Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of the (a) cost of construction, (b) environmental effects and (c) construction time of High Speed 2 and a conventional electrified rail line along the High Speed 2 route.

Mr Robert Goodwill: A comparative assessment of the costs of construction and environmental effects of a High Speed and conventional electrified line was presented in the November 2013 HS2 Ltd report; London – West Midlands environmental Statement, Volume 5, Alternatives Report. The comparative assessment with a conventional line can be found from page 23 of the report which can be accessed online viahttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259616/Vol1_Alternatives_Report_CT-002-000_wm.pdf

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many expressions of interest his Department has received from organisations other than HM Treasury or private investors in funding the construction of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The case for HS2 has been calculated on the basis of the project being fully publicly funded. We have not received any expressions of interest from organisations other than HM Treasury or private investors in funding the construction of High Speed.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his most recent estimate is of the cost of tunnel boring for the High Speed 2 Chiltern tunnel.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The estimated cost of the Chiltern tunnel, as extended via Additional Provision 4, is £940m (based on Q2 2011 Prices). This figure, which includes the costs relating to tunnel boring and the construction of the tunnel portals and vent shafts, excludes risk and contingency.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Promoter's response to the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Committee's First Special Report of Session 2014-15, June 2015, paragraph 160, how many cases have been received for exceptional consideration; how many such applications have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful; and how many such applications remain under consideration.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Since June 2015 HS2 Ltd and DfT have received one retrospective compensation requests under the Atypical property and special circumstances approach. This is currently under consideration.

Taxis: Pay

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted research on the average hourly pay after business expenses of private hire vehicle drivers in London.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport has not undertaken any research on the income of private hire vehicle drivers in London or elsewhere.

Taxis: Greater London

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22143, for what reasons the Government has decided not to amend primary legislation to allow the number of private hire vehicles licensed in London or elsewhere to be restricted.

Andrew Jones: The Government supports choice for consumers, and wants to see both taxis and private hire vehicles prosper in London and elsewhere. The Government is prepared to continue discussing various options with the Mayor but does not believe legislation allowing him to cap the number of private hire vehicles is warranted. The Mayor has other ways of influencing the market that do not require new legislation.

Driving: Licensing

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons drivers resident in Northern Ireland are unable to use the online facility to change address on their driving licence.

Andrew Jones: Driver licensing in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive not the UK government. The online facility administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is available only to those resident in Great Britain.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what tests were undertaken by (a) the Vehicle Certification Agency, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and (c) any other testing authority as part of in-service emissions testing in each of the last 10 years; and which models were tested in each such year.

Andrew Jones: Tests which were undertaken by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) include the in service light duty testing programme, which were conducted in accordance with the New European Drive Cycle requirements.Aftermarket alterations tests were conducted in accordance with the European Transient Cycle and North London Delivery Truck Cycle. Light duty emissions followed the New European Drive Cycle requirements.The models that were tested by VCA in the last ten years can be found in the table below. Vehicle ModelYear of testingAudi A4 Petrol EIV2005/06BMW 320TD Diesel EIV2005/06Fiat Punto 1.3l Multijet Diesel EIV2005/06Ford Fiesta 1.6l Petrol EIV2005/06Mazda 6 TS 2.0l EIV2005/06Mercedes A170 Diesel Euro III2005/06Mercedes C220 2.2l Diesel EIV2005/06Mitsubishi Carisma Petrol Euro III2005/06Mitsubishi Spacestar 1.6l Petrol EIV2005/06Toyota Corolla 1995cc Diesel EIV2005/06Vauxhall Vectra 1.8l 16V Petrol EIV2005/06Vauxhall Zafira 1.6l 16V Petrol EIV2005/06VW Golf 2.0l TDI Diesel IV2005/06Audi A4 Petrol EIV2006/07BMW 320TD Diesel EIV2006/07Fiat Punto 1.3l Multijet Diesel EIV2006/07Mada RX8 2.6l Petrol EIV2006/07Toyota Corolla 1995cc Diesel EIV2006/07Vauxhall Vectra 1.8l 16V Petrol EIV2006/07Vauxhall Zafira 1.6l 16V Petrol EIV2006/07VW Golf 2.0l TDI Diesel IV2006/07Fiat Punto 1.3l Multijet Diesel EIV2007/08Ford 1.8ltr Connect2007/08Ford Focus 1.6ltr2007/08LDV Maxus 2.5ltr 120PS2007/08Peugeot 307 1.6ltr2007/08Peugeot Partner 1.6HDI2007/08Porsche Boxster 3.2l EIV2007/08Renault Clio 1.5D 86bhp2007/08VW Golf 2.0l TDI Diesel IV2007/08VW Transporter 2.5ltr 130PS2007/08Alfa Romeo 1.9l TDI EIV2008/09BMW 523i 2.5l EIV2008/09BMW Mini One D2008/09BMW X5 3.0l TD EIV2008/09Ford Focus 1.6l TD EIV2008/09Renault Scenic 2.0l Dci 150 EIV2008/09Smart FourTwo 698cc EIV2008/09Subaru Forester 2.0l EIV2008/09Vauxhall Astra Twintop 1.8l EIV2008/09VW Golf 2.0l TDI Diesel IV2008/09Citreon C3 1.6l EIV2009/10Ford Focus ST 2.5l EIV2009/10Honda Civic ES IMA Hybrid 1.3l EIV2009/10Honda FR-V 2.2l TD EIV2009/10Jaguar X Type 2.2l TD EIV2009/10Kia Rio 1.5l TD EIV2009/10Skoda Octavia Tdi 2.0l EIV2009/10Toyota Yaris Tdi 1.4l EIV2009/10VW Golf 2.0l TDI Diesel IV2009/10VW Touran 1.4l EIV2009/10Chevrolet Matiz 0.8l EIV2010/11Fiat 500 1.2l EIV2010/11Ford Mondeo 2.2l Duratorq EIV2010/11Honda FR-V 2.2l TD EIV2010/11Hyundai i10 1.1l EIV2010/11Jaguar X Type 2.2l TD EIV2010/11Kia Rio 1.5l TD EIV2010/11Smart FourTwo 1.0l EIV2010/11Vauxhall Corsa 1.3l CDTi EIV2010/11Vauxhall Vectra 1.9l CDTi EIV2010/11As reported previously, following the work in 2010-2011, the focus of emissions testing changed to consider aftermarket alteration of vehicles, both light and heavy duty.The vehicles tested wereLight DutyPeugeot RCZ2013/14Ford C-Max2013/14  Heavy DutyMercedes Actros2012/13DAF CF 852014/15  I would also refer the Hon Member to my answer of 20 January 2016, UIN 22742 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=22742) for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, which tabled the number of MOT in service emission tests conducted in the last 10 years. The models subject to this test would cover every manufacturers model range subject to the MOT test during this period.The Department for Transport does not hold information on work carried out by other testing authorities.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any action was taken by (a) the Vehicle Certification Agency, (b) the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and (c) any other testing authority against vehicle manufacturers as a result of in-service emissions testing in each of the last 10 years; and what (i) penalties and (ii) other sanctions were imposed on vehicle manufacturers as a result of in-service emissions testing in each such year.

Andrew Jones: Action taken by the Vehicle Certification Agency is below;In the last 10 years, two models failed the tests. They were:Mitsubishi Carisma Petrol Euro III (2005/2006 test)BMW Mini One D (2008/2009 test)In-service testing requires a minimum of three tests in order to achieve meaningful statistical results, although up to 20 vehicles may need to be tested. Where a fail decision is reached the series production is deemed to have failed, and the Approval Authority for the vehicle should be contacted to inform them of the test result.In the Case of BMW Mini the KBA (German approval authority) were informed to enable them to take action. In the case of the Mitsubishi the manufacturer was contacted directly and a number of anomalies were found with the test vehicle that could account for the failed result. In this case, the approval authority was again the KBA. Following further discussion with the manufacturer, no further action was taken.The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has not taken any action against any vehicle manufacturer as a result of in service emission testing during the past 10 years.

Roads: Floods

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of damage to (a) local roads and (b) the strategic road network caused by recent flooding; and from which cost heading funding for (i) already identified and (ii) anticipated repairs is to be found.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced funding of £40 million for Cumbria and Lancashire following Storms Desmond and Eva. We also agreed to help fund the assessment of damage to local highway infrastructure in both areas. In addition, the Department also announced £3.3 million to provide a temporary footbridge and the repair of Tadcaster Bridge in North Yorkshire and a further £5.5 million to rebuild Elland Bridge in Calderdale which includes providing a temporary pedestrian footbridge whilst these works are underway.The Department is also working closely with all local highway authorities affected by the floods to see what further support and assistance can be provided as they complete their assessments of damage.Two sections of road on the strategic road network have been damaged by the recent flooding. The river bank was washed out on both sides at Warwick Bridge on the A69 near Carlisle. This will be repaired, as agreed with the Environment Agency (EA), using gabion baskets at an estimated cost of £60,000. The cost of the repairs will be met by the DBFO Company who maintains this stretch of road.A 1.5 mile section of the westbound dual carriageway at Bassenthwaite Lake on the A66 in Cumbria is currently closed due to the recent storms. As a consequence of the westbound closure, the two lane eastbound carriageway is being used with one lane open for eastbound traffic and one for westbound traffic. The repair costs will be dependent on the findings of a recent geotechnical survey. However the provisional cost estimate for reopening this section of the network is between £3m and £5m.The rest of the strategic road network in the North West region has now been returned to a fully serviceable condition. This has involved the clearance and inspection of all affected culverts and the removal of a significant amount of detritus off sections of the network that witnessed flooding. This included the removal of material off the carriageway following two minor earth slips on the A66 in the vicinity of Warcop. The cost of clearing the affected network in the North West region is estimated at £275,000.Inspections of bridge structures and other assets across the North West region have revealed scour (erosion of soil) related issues and other damage at a number of locations, with further inspections currently underway. Remedial works on the A66 at Eden Bridge near Temple Sowerby are estimated at £125,000. Additionally, the Environment Agency has contacted Highways England about a section of scour/land slip adjacent to the River Greta east of Briery interchange. An inspection has been arranged to determine the proximity and potential risk to the A66 at this location.The funding for repairs to the strategic road network is being met via an additional £8m for storm damage provided by DfT.

Cycling

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting the recommendation of the cycling charity CTC that part of the £15 billion road budget outlined in the Road Investment Strategy 2014 be reallocated to cycling in order to help achieve the Government's aims for cycling, health and the environment.

Andrew Jones: The Strategic Road Network does not just impact on motorists but on other road users, especially cyclists. We want the road network to offer better provision for the needs of cyclists. This means, amongst other things, more segregated cycle-ways alongside trunk roads and safer junctions and crossings.Highways England has committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users. Through our first Road Investment Strategy for Highways England, £100 million has been made available between 2015 and 2021 to improve the conditions for cycling alongside and crossing the Strategic Road Network. This will deliver improvements for cyclists at 200 locations on the network.

Aviation: Noise

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will review its aircraft noise policy after the updated WHO guidelines are published in summer 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government’s current policy on aviation noise is to limit, and where possible reduce, the number of people in the UK significantly affected by aircraft noise. The Government will continue to ensure that its policy on aviation noise takes into account emerging evidence that is relevant, including on the health impacts of noise.It should be noted that the current WHO guidelines do not refer solely to noise from aviation, but relate to noise levels from any of various sources including other transport sources such as from road, rail, and non-transport sources such as construction, industry and the neighbourhood.

Mersey Tunnel: Tolls

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2015 to Question 2544, what progress is being made on reviewing the Mersey Tunnel tolls.

Andrew Jones: The Review of the Mersey Tunnel Tolls is being undertaken by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. It is currently underway and will inform the Authority’s toll setting decisions for 2016-17, which will be taken next month. Officials at the Department are engaging with the Authority on the Review, which is expected to continue during 2016-17 to inform a longer term tolling position.

Public Transport: Students

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review the affordability of public transport for people in full-time education; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The legislation which regulates the bus industry does not require bus operators to offer reduced fares to young people. However, bus operators in most areas do offer discounted travel tickets to various groups of young people on a commercial basis. Government recognises the importance of accessible transport to all young people and we are working with the sector to encourage operators to continue to improve their offers.Whilst there is no requirement for local authorities to provide free transport for 16-19 year olds attending further education, some local authorities do also provide discretionary travel concession schemes for young people.Current estimates indicate that around 50% of young people aged 16 to 19 receive at least a third off standard bus fares.In terms of rail services, young rail passengers are able to purchase a 16 – 25 Railcard where they can save a third on most standard class rail fares.

Railways: Electrification

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 12356, when he expects Network Rail to publish an update to its industry electrification strategy.

Claire Perry: It remains the Department’s expectation that Network Rail will publish the industry electrification strategy as a draft for consultation in early 2016, taking into account Sir Peter Hendy’s report of Network Rail’s programme of rail investment.

Home Office

National Crime Agency: European Arrest Warrants

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions the National Crime Agency has used the European Arrest Warrant system in the last two years.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 21 January 2016



The National Crime Agency issued 219 European Arrest Warrants( EAWs) in 2013, and issued 228 EAWs in 2014.The National Crime Agency received 5,522 EAWs in 2013, and received 13,460 EAWs in 2014. The substantial increase in the number of EAWs received between 2013 and 2014 is due to the preparatory work necessary for connection to the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

Cedars Pre-departure Accommodation Facility: Children

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children have been accommodated in Cedars pre-departure accommodation in Crawley in each month since its establishment.

James Brokenshire: The table below provides the latest published information on children entering Cedars Pre Departure Accommodation from Q3 2011 to Q3 2015.Children entering detention at Cedars pre departure accommodation, Q3 2011 to Q3 2015QuarterTotal children2011 Q3112011 Q4232012 Q1352012 Q2372012 Q3202012 Q4292013 Q1282013 Q2112013 Q3302013 Q4302014 Q152014 Q292014 Q362014 Q4122015 Q1112015 Q2152015 Q372014 data onwards are provisional.All children detained at Cedars are Family Returns Panel advised cases.Some detainees may be recorded more than once if, for example, the person has been detained on more than one separate occasion in the time period shown, such as a person who has left detention, but has subsequently been re-detained.Child detainees are those with age recorded as under 18 at the start of their period of detention.The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of children entering detention for immigration purposes, within the Immigration Statistics release. Data relating to children entering detention are available in tables dt_02 and dt_02_q in Immigration Statistics: July – September 2015 on the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release.

Undocumented Migrants: Deportation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures are in place to ensure that illegal migrants to the UK are returned to their country of origin; and whether people deemed by her Department to be illegal migrants are only able to appeal that decision from their country of origin.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office continues to take action at every opportunity to prevent immigration abuse, pursue immigration offenders and increase compliance with immigration law including arresting and returning illegal migrants to their country of origin. The Immigration Act 2014 simplified the appeals system so that an appeal right only arises where a claim raising fundamental rights is refused, namely asylum, humanitarian protection and human rights claims. The Home Office has the power to require an appeal to be brought only once an individual has left the UK where the claim is clearly unfounded and where a person liable to deportation makes a human rights claim and it would not cause serious irreversible harm or otherwise breach human rights to require them to appeal from overseas.The Immigration Bill seeks to extend the power to require an appeal to be brought from overseas to all human rights claims where an appeal from overseas would not cause serious irreversible harm or otherwise breach human rights. Similar provisions are set out in the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 which apply to EEA nationals and their family members.

Death

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 to include a requirement to stipulate the time of death.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 21 January 2016



There are no plans at present to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987 to include time of death at death registration.

International Sikh Youth Federation: Proscribed Organisations

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to lay before Parliament an Order removing the International Sikh Youth Federation from the list of proscribed organisations.

Mrs Theresa May: Holding answer received on 21 January 2016



I intend to lay an order to deproscribe the group at the earliest practical opportunity, subject to Parliamentary availability and agreement.

Vetting: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of applications for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks (a) nationally, (b) in London and (c) in Dulwich and West Norwood constituency met each of the service's published service standards for waiting times in each year since 2010.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vetting: Nurses

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make support available to trainee nurses unable to complete their courses because of delays in the processing of their applications for Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Gilbert Deya

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken since 6 May 2010 on the case of Mr Gilbert Juma Deya's immigration status in the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2015 to Question HC 1906, on Asylum, what recent progress has been made on resuming the Detained Fast Track system.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Border Force: Staff

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff there were in the UK Border Force and its predecessor in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (e) 2013-14, (f) 2014-15 and (g) 2015-16; and what the UK Border Force's planned total staff complement is for 2016-17.

Mrs Theresa May: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Syria

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict resettled in the UK to date have been relocated from (a) refugee camps in Turkey, (b) refugee camps in Jordan, (c) refugee camps in Lebanon, (d) refugee camps in Syria, (e) other refugee camps and (f) a site that is not a refugee camp.

Richard Harrington: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vetting

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 21044, how many applicants who applied for both a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Adult First Check and a DBS check subsequently failed their DBS check after receiving (a) No Match Found responses and (b) wait for full disclosure responses in their DBS Adult First checks in each year since 2012.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Border Force: Finance

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the budget was for the UK Border Force and its predecessor in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13, (e) 2013-14, (f) 2014-15 and (g) 2015-16; and what the UK Border Force's planned budget is for 2016-17.

Mrs Theresa May: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Border Force

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times UK Border Force staff employed in ports were redeployed to airports in 2015.

Mrs Theresa May: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Syria

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict relocated in the UK to date are (a) adults with a vulnerable characteristic, (b) adults in a family unit, (c) adults not in a family unit or with a vulnerable characteristic, (d) children with parents and (e) unaccompanied children.

Richard Harrington: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Legal Systems: Islam

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to publish her Department's review of Sharia courts; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Migrant Workers: Visas

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people she expects to leave the UK in April 2016 because the term of their Tier 2 visa will expire.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons Review

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a response to each of the recommendations made in Stephen Shaw's Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons, Cm 9186, before Report Stage on the Immigration Bill in the House of Lords.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign Nationals: Children

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has produced to assist police forces in apprehending foreign-born minors and their transfer into the care of local authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Domestic Service

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the recommendations of James Ewins' review of the overseas domestic workers visa.

James Brokenshire: The Government is considering carefully James Ewins’ recommendations and will announce its response in due course

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Colombia: Human Rights

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Colombian government in the last three months on the security situation for human rights defenders in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: On 21 December, Officials from the British Embassy in Bogota raised human rights and protection issues with the national Ombudsman who also explained the role the Ombudsman's Office will play in post-agreement in Colombia.

Pu Zhiqiang

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chinese authorities on the reported arrest of Pu Zhiqiang.

Mr Hugo Swire: As the Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns, explained in her written answer of 30 December, we are deeply concerned by the conviction of Pu Zhiqiang, which raised serious issues about due process and transparency and justice in China. We have continued to raise his case with the Chinese authorities. Most recently, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), re-iterated our concerns with the Chinese government during his visit to China on 5 January. My Right Honourable Friend once again underlined our disappointment at the treatment of diplomats and journalists outside Pu’s trial.

Colombia: Homicide

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 20989, what information his Department holds on how many cases of murder of (a) human rights defenders, (b) trades unionists and (c) political activists there have been in the last three years in Colombia for which someone has been brought to trial.

Mr Hugo Swire: Although we do not compile statistics on these cases, the British Government receives regular updates from non-government organisations (NGOs) such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Peace Brigades International, highlighting the reported cases outlined by the Honourable Member. For example, Somos Defensores' 2015 report on the number of murders and threats made against human rights defenders: http://somosdefensores.org/attachments/article/134/los-nadie-informe-semestral-siaddhh2015.pdf

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: At the 18 January 2016, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had a total of 12 public use Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) across the FCO’s four UK sites while FCO tenants at Hanslope Park have an additional 15 AEDs for their own internal use.

Indonesia: Terrorism

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Indonesia in dealing with the terrorist bombings in Jakarta in January 2016.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK and Indonesia are already working closely together on a broad range of issues, including counter-terrorism and counter-extremism. We continue to provide support and assistance to the Indonesian government as it works to defeat those who plan and perpetrate acts of terror. Our collaboration in these areas includes an operational capacity-building programme, established in 2005, and incorporates training delivered through the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation. A bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on police cooperation was signed during the Prime Minister, my right hon Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) visit to Jakarta in July. Additionally, we co-operate on a range of issues including foreign terrorist fighters, crisis response and legal frameworks.

Indonesia: Terrorism

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indonesian counterpart on the (a) ISIL attacks in Jakarta in January 2016 and (b) implications of those attacks for the Government's foreign policy.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK and Indonesia are already working closely together on a broad range of issues, including counter-terrorism and counter-extremism. We continue to provide support and assistance to the Indonesian government as it works to defeat those who plan and perpetrate acts of terror. Our collaboration in these areas includes an operational capacity-building programme, established in 2005, and incorporates training delivered through the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation. A bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on police cooperation was signed during the Prime Minister, my right hon Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) visit to Jakarta in July. Additionally, we co-operate on a range of issues including foreign terrorist fighters, crisis response and legal frameworks.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Conditions of Employment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department's policy is on its officials engaging in secondary employment.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Staff are permitted to take up secondary employment providing it does not affect or impinge upon their work for the FCO. They are required to obtain prior written approval before accepting secondary employment and may also be required to sign an agreement to opt out of working time limits in their second job if it would mean they exceed the maximum number of weekly average hours under the Working Time Regulations.

Indonesia: Terrorism

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how the Government plans to respond to the terrorist bombings in Jakarta in January 2016.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK and Indonesia are already working closely together on a broad range of issues, including counter-terrorism and counter-extremism. We continue to provide support and assistance to the Indonesian government as it works to defeat those who plan and perpetrate acts of terror.

China: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is planned.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is an annual event which last took place in Beijing in April 2015. We expect to hold the next round in March or April 2016.

Israel: Palestinians

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the transfer of protected persons from the West Bank to prisons inside Israel.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly raise our concerns about the treatment of Palestinian prisoners with the Israeli authorities, including routine detention of Palestinians from the West Bank in prison inside Israel. We are particularly concerned about the detention of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons. We welcome recent improvements made by the Israeli authorities, including increasing the age of majority from 16 to 18 years old. However, we remain concerned at the number of Palestinian minors held in Israeli detention.

Kamal Foroughi

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what further representations his Department plans to make to the Iranian government on securing the release of Kamal Foroughi from imprisonment.

Mr Philip Hammond: I have raised the case of Mr Foroughi with President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) spoke to President Rouhani in July 2015 about this case, followed up with a letter on 19 October requesting an update on Mr Foroughi’s welfare and requesting that consular access be granted. The Prime Minister spoke again to President Rouhani on the 19th of January. Mr Foroughi’s case was raised by the Prime Minister in that conversation. We will continue to raise this case, alongside our other consular cases with the Iranian government regularly, at all appropriate levels, including at Ministerial and through our embassy officials in Tehran.

Turkey: Arrests

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Turkish government on the arrest of academics (a) in general and (b) at the Kocaeli University in north-western Turkey.

Mr Philip Hammond: I was concerned to hear reports of academics being arrested for expressing their views on the conflict in southeast Turkey. This included 15 academics from Kocaeli University who have subsequently been released. Our Ambassador in Turkey released a public statement on the issue, expressing concern. We regularly underline the importance of Fundamental Freedoms, including freedom of expression as part of our dialogue with the Turkish government. Freedom of expression and public debate must be respected without fear of intimidation.

Arab Partnership Participation Fund

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of the promotion of democracy and human rights through the Arab Partnership Fund in 2014-15.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Arab Partnership was created in 2010 and became a key part of the Government’s response to the Arab Spring. This initiative comprised two parts: the FCO-led Arab Partnership Participation Fund and the DFID-led Arab Partnership Economic Facility. Between 2011 and 2015 the Arab Partnership Participation Fund provided funding totalling £42,803,007 for projects in the region. In financial year 2014/15 the fund provided £10,512,791 of which £8,498,003 was allocated to projects promoting human rights and democracy across the Middle East and North Africa region.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Human Rights

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department were employed to work on human rights in 2014-15; and what the cost of these employees was to the public purse.

Mr Philip Hammond: As I said in my published article marking Human Rights Day, human rights work "is the responsibility of all British diplomats". Calculating the proportion of each UK diplomat's time spent on human rights work, and their associated cost, would incur disproportionate cost.

Capital Punishment

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance (a) has been issued and (b) his Department plans to issue in 2016 to UK diplomats in states with the death penalty on representing the Government's position on the use of that penalty.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether trade union groups based abroad will be eligible to bid for funding from the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy.

Mr David Lidington: Any individual or organisation can apply to the fund. All parties that submit bids are subject to due diligence checks to ensure they have the capacity/ability to deliver their proposed project in line with the funds objecitves. This applies to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office programme funds. Bids will be rigorously assessed against the criteria set out in our programme guidance and strategy, available online.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Attorney General, how many defibrillators are provided in each building the Law Officers' Departments manage.

Robert Buckland: Staff in the Government Legal Department (GLD) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate who are based at One Kemble Street, have access to two defibrillators which are held by the landlord in their reception areas. GLD client based staff have access to whatever provision is made by those who manage the buildings occupied by their host Department.The Attorney General’s Office does not currently have access to a defibrillator in its 20 Victoria Street office.The Serious Fraud Office has access to two automated external defibrillators at their offices in Cockspur Street.The Crown Prosecution Service does not provide defibrillators in any of its buildings. However, some staff may have access to defibrillators provided by other tenants or the buildings managing agent in buildings that they occupy.

Crime: Victims

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Attorney General, what steps he plans to take in response to the findings of the report, entitled Communicating with victims, published by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in January 2016.

Robert Buckland: On the day of the report the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) agreed to act on each of the three recommendations made.The CPS is already conducting a review of overall support to victims and witnesses with the police and agreeing our respective roles in communication will form part of this review;The CPS will ensure that the quality assurance checks of communications from the Victim Liaison Units (VLUs) are improved through guidance and training; andThe CPS will seek to improve both the flagging of substantial alterations in appropriate cases and the systems for notification of the VLUs.In addition, the CPS has already taken action to address a range of issues identified in the report. For example, they have redeployed more paralegal staff and managers to Crown Courts to ensure that there are sufficient staff to support victims and witnesses. When rollout is complete around 350 paralegal staff and managers will be based at Crown Courts across England and Wales. The CPS is also introducing new guidance on Speaking to Witnesses at Court which will improve the service provided and is currently operating in a number of pathfinder sites. It will be rolled out across the country by summer 2016.The CPS is also reviewing the resourcing of VLUs to ensure that sufficient staff are in place to manage the workload of those units.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Stoke on Trent

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies (i) have been abolished or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent since 2010 and (ii) will be abolished in or relocated from Stoke-on-Trent by 2020.

Joseph Johnson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has not had any direct employees in Stoke-on-Trent since before 2010.I have asked Chief Executives of the Executive Agencies to respond directly to the Hon Member and these are attached. This information is not held by BIS in respect of non-Departmental Public Bodies, non-ministerial departments, advisory bodies and other accountable statutory bodies.



Executive Agency replies
(PDF Document, 1.22 MB)

English Language: Education

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much the Skills Funding Agency has provided for ESOL Plus Mandation courses in each year since 2009-10.

Nick Boles: ESOL Plus (Mandation) funding was introduced in 2014 in order to support the English Language Requirement policy to mandate new Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants with poor spoken English to ESOL training. ESOL Plus (Mandation) funding was additional to the Adult Skills Budget, which providers use to fund ESOL.The Skills Funding Agency provided £30m in 2014-15 and £10m in 2015-16 of ESOL Plus (Mandation) funding.

Employment: Research

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of FTE positions supported by funding from Research Councils UK; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The table below provides the figures for full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed by the Research Councils as at 31 March 2015. It is not possible to estimate the number of FTE positions supported by grant funding awarded by the Research Councils given the multiple sources of funding which support many researchers.FTE as at 31st March 2015Head Office staff1Institute, Research Centre and Unit staffTotalAHRC1340134BBSRC282.39621244.3EPSRC1930193ESRC1400140MRC220222052425NERC21421712385STFC217155817751 Figures in this column include Research Councils UK Executive Directorate and cross-research council support staff.2 Locally employed staff at the MRC’s two units in Africa are not included in this data.

Apprentices

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, what proportion of businesses which have been in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area (a) pay at least the living wage to employees under contract and (b) have paid at least the living wage to such employees since the beginning of the apprenticeship programme in 2010.

Nick Boles: We do not hold this information.

Small Businesses: Grants

Tom Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of changing Innovate UK funding from grants to loans.

Joseph Johnson: Innovation is a driver of productivity and the UK ranks among the best in the world in various indices. The Government is focussed on creating the best conditions for innovative businesses to flourish and is taking steps to ensure a range of finance options is available. We are exploring the range of financial instruments available in a number of countries and will be conducting market research in the UK to better understand the needs of innovative businesses.

Universities: China

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is providing universities to increase collaboration with Chinese research institutions; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: We are working with UK universities in a number of important ways to increase our collaboration with Chinese researchers.We have regular discussions with the Chinese government on education and research collaboration These discussions are both at the working level, where BIS science and higher education teams have a close relationship with their opposite numbers, and also through regular Ministerial exchanges such as the annual People to People Dialogue, the UK-China Education Summit, the biennial UK-China Science and Innovation Joint Committee meetings and the annual Prime Ministerial summit meetings.In addition, our flagship international science and innovation fund, the Newton Fund, has achieved a transformation in UK-China research collaboration since it was launched in April 2014 and continues to strengthen our collaborative work. The fund, includes significant university participation in programmes on urbanisation, climate change, environment, food security and health. Universities also play a major role in building research capacity in China through means of Newton grants for partnerships, PhD placements, training and joint workshops.

Apprentices

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, how his Department works with businesses in the (a) construction, planning and the built environment sector subject area and (b) engineering and manufacturing technologies sector subject area to create more apprenticeships.

Nick Boles: Skills policy is a devolved area so the Devolved Administrations have complete flexibility over how to support businesses in all sectors to ensure there are sufficient skilled workers. In England, our 2020 Vision sets out how we will reach 3 million apprenticeship starts in 2020.We are supporting the growth of apprenticeships in all sectors by working with large and small businesses to begin or expand their programmes, setting new expectations for public sector bodies, and through public procurement. We are providing £85 million to extend the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE), which supports small businesses to take on apprentices, to the end of the 2016/17 academic year.Employers in both of these specific sectors are heavily involved in designing new apprenticeship standards that fully meet their needs. Employers in the construction sector are involved in developing new apprenticeships standards in over 20 occupations, including site management and construction technician. Those in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector are involved in developing new apprenticeship standards in over 30 occupations, including aerospace engineer and manufacturing engineer.

Apprentices

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, which businesses have been in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area.

Nick Boles: Funding for training against apprenticeship frameworks is provided to education and training providers and not allocated to businesses.

Apprentices

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, whether any businesses in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area have employed staff using zero-hours contracts in the last two years.

Nick Boles: We do not hold this information.

Holiday Leave: Pay

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 15 December 2014 to Question 218111, what conclusions were reached by the Taskforce of business representations and government departments established to access how to limit the negative impact on business and jobs of the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal of 4 November 2014 in the case  Bear Scotland and over v Mr David Fulton and others.

Nick Boles: The previous Government involved the Holiday Pay Task Force in discussions leading to the introduction of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014. These regulations were introduced to limit backdated holiday pay claims to two years and have applied to Employment Tribunal claims for unlawful deductions from wages made on or since 1 July 2015. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) believes that the regulations are helping to limit the negative impact on business of the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in Bear Scotland.BIS is continuing to monitor the impact of this and other court decisions relating to holiday pay. We regularly discuss the situation with a wide range of interested parties.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent representations he has received on the proposed privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: The Government has received a small number of representations from interested parties since the Government’s announcement to bring in private capital to the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in June 2015. My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills met my hon Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) and representatives from E3G and Aldersgate Group in October, and I have met with the Member separately this month. The Government also meets GIB management regularly to discuss this and other issues.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics on the issuing of special shares in the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: The Government is currently exploring with the Office of National Statistics whether there is scope to implement a special share style arrangement in a way that would not amount to a form of state control.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank on the level of investment it will make in the UK green economy.

Anna Soubry: The privatisation of the Green Investment Bank will allow the company to increase its investments in the UK green economy. It will be able to raise more capital free from being on the Government balance sheet. It will also be free from State Aid restrictions on the green investments it can make.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 14108, whether the Government has imposed binding conditions in previous privatisations.

Anna Soubry: A body such as the Green Investment Bank can only be classified to the private sector if it is not subject to significant government control over its corporate policy. That includes any control Government has over the body in terms of legislation, regulation and its contractual agreements.

Agriculture and Skilled Workers

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that best practice is shared with each of the devolved institutions on development among employers of agri-tech and skills strategies.

George Freeman: We are supporting the efforts of the agri-tech sector to ensure that it has the skills it needs for the future. In agriculture this is led by the Agri-Skills Forum, comprising bodies such as Lantra, Landex, National Farmers Union, and the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, which takes a UK wide perspective of skills needs in agriculture and horticulture, and provides a direct link to employers. The Biological and Biosciences Research Council has provided £13 million of funding through its Advanced Training Programmes to support high level skills in food and farming throughout the UK.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Public Expenditure

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the cost and benefits of using (a) Green ISAs and Citizen Finance, (b) UK Pension Funds, (c) the European Investment Bank and (d) co-funding with devolved administrations as a means of increasing its capital base.

Anna Soubry: I assume that the Hon. Member’s question is referring to increasing the capital base of the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB), rather than increasing the capital base of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.The Government’s policy is to move the Green Investment Bank (GIB) into private ownership, minimising the Bank’s use of public funds, and where it will have the freedom to borrow and raise capital without impacting on public sector net debt.a) Green ISAs and Citizen FinanceAt present, GIB has insufficient track record for the retail market. Most of its portfolio is in relatively high risk construction projects that will not provide steady returns in the short term. More importantly, GIB’s current focus is growth, for which it will need to make regular cash calls on investors, which would be hard to meet in the public markets. However there is no reason why a privatised GIB could not raise capital through Green ISAs or other forms of citizen finance in the longer term.(b) UK Pension FundsLarge scale institutional investors such as UK pension funds are likely to be interested in acquiring a stake in GIB, as part of the Government’s plans to move GIB into the private sector. GIB has already successfully attracted such investors into its managed fund for investment in Offshore Wind and other investments (e.g. Strathclyde local authority pension fund), many of whom are investing in green projects for the first time.(c) The European Investment Bank (EIB)The EIB’s focus is on providing debt products, rather than equity investment which is where GIB expects to concentrate. It is unlikely that the EIB would make an investment in GIB itself. However, GIB is already partnering with EIB as a co-investor (such as on the recent Galloper offshore wind investment) and it may continue to do so in future.(d) Co-funding with devolved administrationsThe Government’s policy is to move GIB into the private sector. Co-funding GIB with the devolved administrations would simply be another form of public sector funding.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what options were considered during the decision-making process of privatisation of the Green Investment Bank.

Anna Soubry: The Government considered a number of options for the Green Investment Bank’s (GIB) future but none were deemed to be as effective in meeting the Government’s objectives as the current proposals of moving GIB into majority private ownership.These alternative options were set out in our policy paper of 18 November 2015.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the proposed sale of the Green Investment Bank will include all assets of the bank.

Anna Soubry: The Government has made clear that we intend to sell the Green Investment Bank (GIB) as a going concern. The assets are an inherent part of that company.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Alun Cairns: The Wales Office does not have any defibrillators in its London and Cardiff Offices.

Iron and Steel: Wales

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the potential effect of Government policy towards reform of EU trade defence instruments on the steel industry in Wales.

Stephen Crabb: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues, including the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, where we discuss the challenges faced by the steel industry in Wales and what we need to do to address them.We are strong supporters of effective trade defences to tackle unfair trade practices. There are already a number of ways in which the European Commission can tackle unfair trade where industry can provide the evidence to support such action, including ones before the damage is done through so-called 'threat of injury' cases.We continue to press the Commission to consider ways of speeding up investigations. We recently wrote with specific proposals and are following up at both official and ministerial level.We have also pushed hard for decisive action on individual trade defence investigations, such as voting to take action on seamless pipes and tubes and on wire rod, and for an investigation into rebar.

Iron and Steel: Wales

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the potential effect of current policy on compensation to energy-intensive industries on the steel industry in Wales.

Stephen Crabb: The steel industry is facing unprecedented challenges at present and I am determined to do everything I can to support the industry and those affected. I have regular discussions regarding the steel industry in Wales with ministerial colleagues including the Prime Minister,Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise.The Government is committed to providing compensation to Energy Intensive Industries. On 17 December, we secured state aid clearance to pay further compensation to energy intensive industries - including steel - for renewable policy costs.The Government has published guidance and forms for claiming compensation. The first compensation payments will be made as soon as possible after eligible companies have submitted applications and backdated to December 2015.As announced at Autumn Statement 2015, we are committed to transitioning from a compensation scheme to an exemption, with the aim of this being in place in 2017. Compensation will continue to be paid to the industry until the permanent exemption is in place.This policy will save the industry hundreds of millions of pounds and will give the steel industry all across the UK greater certainty around energy costs for the life of the parliament.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received on local authority non-compliance with statutory requirements in relation to (a) education, health and care plans and (b) the Local Offer; what mechanism is in place to ensure that local authorities comply with such statutory requirements; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure such compliance.

Edward Timpson: We are monitoring implementation of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms very closely. We undertake termly surveys of local authorities and Parent Carer Forums. We also engage in regular dialogue with voluntary and community sector partners, including parent representatives, and we monitor issues raised in ministerial and official correspondence.The SEND reforms are complex and will take time to embed fully. The transition period from statements to Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) runs until 2018. Our team of SEND Advisers has focused on improving the quality and timeliness of Local Offers and EHCPs, and is offering support to local authorities. In 2015, we responded to widespread feedback to extend the timescale for transferring a statement of SEN to an EHCP from 16 weeks to 20 weeks. We have also provided workshops on Local Offers and on transition; we are currently working with partners to run a series of workshops for local authorities on drafting good EHCPs.Early in the process, feedback showed that local authorities were at different stages in developing their Local Offers. All local authorities now have a Local Offer in place, and are working with their partner bodies, families and young people to ensure Local Offers respond to local needs.Parents/carers and young people have various options if they are dissatisfied with the way an authority has acted in relation to an EHCP or about the Local Offer. They may wish to complain directly to their local authority, following its formal complaints procedure. Once a local authority’s complaints procedure has been exhausted, the complaint can be referred to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). The LGO can investigate complaints of maladministration or service failure made by parents/carers and young people about their local authority, including non-compliance with statutory duties relating to EHCPs and the Local Offer. The LGO will not usually investigate complaints about decisions that the local authority has taken in relation to EHC needs assessments and plans that can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).If a complaint is not resolved locally or by the LGO, it can be referred to the Secretary of State under sections 496 and 497 of the Education Act 1996. If the Secretary of State finds that the local authority has failed to carry out a statutory duty, or has done so unreasonably, she can then issue a direction to the authority in order to put matters right, if it is expedient to do so.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools teach sex education and consent in PSHE lessons.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not hold data on the number of schools teaching sex education or consent.The Government believes that all children should have the opportunity to receive a high quality and appropriate sex and relationships education (SRE). SRE is compulsory in maintained secondary schools. Primary schools can choose to teach SRE in an age-appropriate way. All schools providing SRE, including academies and primary schools, must have regard to the Secretary of State’s Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (2000).Schools often choose to teach sex and relationships education as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), and consent may be a part of this.

Department for Education: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many defibrillators are provided in each building her Department manages.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education provides the following number of defibrillators in each of its buildings:BuildingNo. of DefibrillatorsSanctuary Buildings, London3Earlsdon Park, Coventry1Bishopsgate House, Darlington12 St Paul's Place, Sheffield0Learning & Conference Centre, Nottingham0

Internet: Children

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to keep children safe on the internet at school and at home; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Schools, internet providers and parents all have a role to play in keeping children safe online.When carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, all schools and colleges must have regard to the statutory guidance, Keeping children safe in education, which was launched in December 2015. The guidance makes clear that school staff have a responsibility to provide children a safe environment in which they can learn. The guidance also sets out that schools should consider how children are taught about safeguarding, including online safeguarding, through teaching and learning opportunities, as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. We are currently consulting on further strengthening the online safety requirement for schools, to require all schools to have appropriate filters and monitoring systems in place with regards to the schools IT system.Every school is required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures in place to prevent all forms of bullying, including cyberbullying. We have produced advice for schools on tackling bullying and advice for parents on how to prevent their child from being cyberbullied, as well as how to spot signs that they have been targeted and what steps to take. We are providing £1.3m in 2015-16 to anti-bullying charities to tackle all forms of bullying.The Government Equalities Office is funding the UK Safer Internet Centre to produce advice for schools on how to keep children safe online. This advice will be available in the spring of 2016.E-safety has been a statutory requirement within the new computing programme of study since September 2014. The introduction of e-safety content in key stages 1 and 2 reflects the fact that children are increasingly accessing the internet from a young age, and is intended to inform pupils of good practice in staying safe online from an early age.The Government has encouraged Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to provide parents with the ability to easily filter content in the home. The four major ISPs, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, which together constitute an estimated 90% of the UK’s broadband market, have delivered on their commitment to provide an unavoidable choice on whether to install family friendly network level filters to their customers.We expect social media companies to have robust processes in place to address inappropriate and abusive content on their sites. This includes having clear reporting channels, acting promptly to assess reports, and removing content which does not comply with their acceptable use policies or terms and conditions. Social media can also help signpost vulnerable users to helpful sources of information and support.Increasingly, children as well as adults access the internet through mobile phones and other mobile devices. The main Mobile Network Operators, EE, O2, Vodafone and Three, which between them cover around 85% of the UK’s mobile connections, all automatically filter age-inappropriate material by default. They have robust processes in place for verifying the age of those seeking to remove the filters.

Asylum and Human Trafficking: Children

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she last met the Home Secretary to discuss support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and trafficked children; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Government attaches high priority to ensuring that unaccompanied asylum seeking children and trafficked children who arrive in the UK are safe and well cared for. Responsibility for this rests with local authorities.On 15 December 2015, the Minister for Immigration and Ico-hosted a round table with key local authority representatives to discuss how this responsibility can be shared more evenly between local authorities, in order to relieve pressure on children’s services in those areas with a disproportionately high number. We believe that sharing out this responsibility will benefit both the children involved and other children already in the care of those authorities. Ensuring that unaccompanied asylum seeking children are safe and well supported will remain of paramount importance for any new arrangements arising out of these discussions.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve personal social health and economic education in schools.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy that personal social health, economic and education be compulsory in all schools.

Edward Timpson: The Government wants all young people to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. High quality personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) teaching has an important role to play in providing young people with a curriculum for life, which equips them with the skills and understanding they need to manage their lives, succeed and stay safe. We have made it clear in the introduction to the framework of the national curriculum that all schools should teach PSHE.We have committed to improving the quality of PSHE and intend to make significant progress on this issue during this Parliament. The Department for Education is currently working with headteachers and other experts to identify how we can continue to improve the quality of PSHE for every pupil.

Teachers: Vacancies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of teaching vacancies at the start of September 2016.

Nick Gibb: The department collects the number of teacher vacancies in November each year. The November 2015 collection is still underway as schools, Local Authorities and Academy Trusts have until the end of January 2016 to provide their workforce data.The latest available data on the number of vacancies in schools is from the November 2014 School Workforce Census which was published in July 2015 and is available from table 14 at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014The published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many higher education institutions have had their funding allocated by the National College of Teaching and Leadership reduced as a consequence of training more teachers than places allocated in each academic year since 2010-11.

Nick Gibb: We have not reduced the funding for any higher education institutions (HEIs) as a consequence of training more teachers than places allocated since 2010-11.

Teachers: Vacancies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what records her Department keeps of the number of unfilled teaching positions at secondary schools (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area.

Nick Gibb: The number of vacancies in each primary and secondary school is collected as part of the annual November School Workforce Census. The latest national and local authority level statistics were published in July 2015 and are located at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014As part of the School Workforce Census collection each state funded school is asked to provide details of the teacher vacancies they have on Census day. Under the Department’s long-standing standard definition, a post is vacant if it is unfilled or temporarily-filled by a teacher on a contract of less than one term. The vacancy must have been advertised, be vacant at the time of the Census and there should still be an intention to fill it.The complete guidance on how schools provide School Workforce Census data (including the vacancy data) is available at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workforce-censusThe published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many places were available on teacher training courses at higher education institutions in each academic year since 2009-10.

Nick Gibb: We have changed the approach to initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for the 2016 to 2017 academic year. The National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) will not be allocating a specific number of places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses due to start in the 2016 to 2017 academic year. Instead, eligible schools, school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITTs) and higher education institutions (HEIs) will be able to recruit (subject to a limited number of controls) as many trainees as they feel they need – until the overall system has recruited sufficient trainees. For 2016/17 the number of places available for HEIs to recruit to (based on the estimate of trainee need as per the teacher supply model) can be found on GOV.UK:2016/17 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls. (Total core postgraduate places available to HEIs = 14,027).Prior to 2016/17 we have operated an allocations system for School Direct lead schools, SCITTs and HEIs. For recent years detailed initial and final allocations data for HEIs can be found on GOV.UK:2015/16 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-allocations-for-academic-year-2015-to-2016. (Total core postgraduate places allocated to HEIs = 17,066).2014/15 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-allocations-for-academic-year-2014-to-2015. (Total core postgraduate places initially allocated to HEIs = 23,095).2013/14 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-allocations-for-academic-year-2013-to-2014-final. (Total core postgraduate places available to HEIs = 20,005).For 2012/13 and earlier published allocations data can be found on the national archives (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130423140808/http:/education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/TIM/m002013/index.shtml). An extract detailing the relevant years is shown below. It should be noted that this data cannot be disaggregated into HEIs and non-HEIs but is included for information.England2009/102010/112011/122012/13Primary18,05018,64019,73020,840Secondary by subjectArt595515320320Citizenship3265260185180Economics, Dance, Media, Performing Arts, Other subjects5,6295260210220English & Drama2,5352,4152,1002,010Geography715665615625History620545545545Mathematics22,6852,6352,6352,635Foreign Languages51,5251,3901,4901,575Music635570390380Physical Education1,3801,180890835Religious Education695655460450Science2,63,4053,1952,8352,835Technology42,7702,5601,8801,845Vocational subjects5,7........Margin of Flexibility/Secondary Reserve8........Total Secondary18,12016,84514,55514,455Primary and Secondary36,17035,48534,28535,295Notes:1999/2000 places exclude 600 Maths and Science Scheme places.Citizenship includes Personal Social Health & Economic Education and Social StudiesTechnology includes Design and Technology, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Business Sudies.Classics/Ancient Languages are included in 'Other' until 2010/11 inclusive, and in Foreign Languages from 2011/12.Places for vocational subjects from 2006/07 onwards are included with the allocation for related academic subject: Science includes places for Applied Science, Design and Technology includes both Manufacturing and Engineering, ICT includes Applied ICT, Business Studies includes Applied Business, Geography includes Leisure and Tourism, Art includes Applied Art and Other subjects includes Health and Social Care and subjects relating to the new diploma subjects.In 2004/05 places for vocational subjects were shown separately.In 2003/04 the margin of flexibility included places for a vocational subjects pilot. The margin of flexibility/secondary reserve constituted places that the Training and Development Agency for Schools could allocate to any secondary subject, to support providers whose baselines would otherwise be below economic levels; to ensure the appropriate denominational balance; and to help providers with a high proportion of places in shortage subjects and who therefore had particular uncertainty of income. The margin of flexibility included in the places for 2000/01 and 2001/02 is equivalent to the provision the Teacher Training Agency had in 1999/2000 to move places between secondary subjects within certain parameters, but is now given explicitly.... Not applicable

GCSE: Standards

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will discuss with the Secretary of State for Defence how the best examples of literacy and numeracy education carried out in initial basic training in HM Armed Forces can be introduced to assist underachieving pupils in attaining GCSE grade C in English and mathematics.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy for all pupils. We have strengthened the teaching of reading through rigorous phonics methods and placed greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling and fluency in mental and written calculation. We provide funding to secondary schools to help pupils catch up quickly and have announced resits for year 7 pupils in reading and mathematics.Our reforms to mathematics and English at GCSE offer greater assurance that pupils with these qualifications will have the literacy and numeracy skills they need in employment, and we now require every 16-19 year old without a good pass in GCSE English and maths to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 programme.In every aspect of this work the Department for Education is active in looking for ways to improve literacy and numeracy. We will look with interest at the work of the Armed Forces in this area.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of qualified teachers.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Performance Standards

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on changing the way school performance data is published so that data on children in designation provision is disaggregated from data on children in mainstream schooling; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: We have received recent representations on this issue. Most recently we received a letter, on 8th January 2016, from Paul King, the headteacher of Green Lane special school, on behalf of designated provision and special schools in Warrington.We do not disaggregate the results of children in designation provision from the results of children in mainstream schooling when publishing performance data as to do so would be at odds with our principle of inclusivity. Designated provision caters for pupils with a wide range of special educational needs (SEN) and ability; disaggregating their results could suggest that we have a different or lower expectation of them. In many schools, children split their time between mainstream and designated provision. Disaggregating results would create an inconsistent approach between schools with separate provision and those where SEN children are integrated. This could create an incentive to either move SEN children from mainstream to designated provision, or to reduce the amount of integration in schools. However, the performance tables do provide additional contextual information on the number and percentage of pupils on roll with SEN.

Teachers: Recruitment

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve teacher recruitment in local education authority areas with poor educational attainment; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to achieving educational excellence everywhere so that children in every part of the country, regardless of their background and circumstances, have access to an outstanding education.High-quality teachers are central to that ambition, and we have recently announced the establishment of a new National Teaching Service (NTS) that will second outstanding teachers and middle leaders into the schools that most need support, particularly in areas of the country that find it hardest to retain and recruit good teachers. Our ambition is that by 2020 there will be 1,500 NTS teachers/middle leaders in underperforming schools in areas of the country facing particular challenges in terms of teacher quality and recruitment. The NTS will begin with a pilot of 100 outstanding teachers and middle leaders in the North West from September 2016. Following the pilot the national programme will be rolled out from September 2017 where it will be extended into other regions.We are also increasing the number of high-achieving graduates teaching in disadvantaged schools by supporting the geographical expansion of Teach First into every region of England. This gives Teach First the scope to reach 90 per cent of eligible schools by 2016, boosting the Government’s commitment to recruit more top teachers throughout England, including in more rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas. We are continuing to increase the proportion of initial teacher training that is led by schools, and our School Direct programme is giving more head teachers the ability to select, train and employ the teachers they need in their local areas.The pay reforms that we have introduced since September 2013 give schools greater autonomy and more freedom to decide how much they pay teachers and how quickly pay progresses. Schools may also choose to use their pupil premium funding to attract or retain the best teachers. This increased flexibility gives schools in disadvantaged areas more scope to attract and recruit the high quality teachers that they need to deliver outstanding education in the most challenging circumstances.

Parents: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22307, on parents: mental illness, if she will make it her policy to collect such data.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education does not intend to collect this data.Information on parental status and mental health illness is collected through the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Ministry of Justice

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the insurance industry provided to his Department an estimate of by how much motor insurance premiums would reduce before they took effect as a consequence of the changes introduced by the Jackson reforms of the civil justice system and the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: The civil litigation funding and costs reforms, which came into effect in April 2013, were intended to control the costs of civil litigation which had risen unsustainably. The insurance industry confirmed that motor insurance premiums would fall as a consequence but did not provide an estimate of the likely reduction.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions there have been for motor insurance fraud in each of the last five years.

Dominic Raab: This information is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Suicide

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner suicides there were in each prison in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

Andrew Selous: Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons.The national statistics on safety in custody do not use the category of suicide, but that of self-inflicted death, defined as “any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent.”The number of self-inflicted deaths in each prison establishment in each year from 1978 to 2014 is published in the Safety in Custody statistics, at table 1.16 in the Deaths in Prison Custody spreadsheet at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-bulletin-june-2015An updated version of this table, including the number of self-inflicted deaths in each prison establishment in 2015, will be published on 28 January 2016.

Ranby Prison

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when a Minister in his Department (a) last visited, (b) met the Governor of and (c) met the Independent Monitoring Board of HM Prison Ranby.

Andrew Selous: Available records show that no current Ministers for the Ministry of Justice have visited HMP Ranby, nor met the Governor or met with their Independent Monitoring Board.The East Midlands Deputy Director with responsibility for HMP Ranby regularly visits the prison and meets with the Governor. Andrew Selous receives annual reports from the chair of the IMB at Ranby.

Ranby Prison

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staff numbers and skills at HM Prison Ranby.

Andrew Selous: HMP Ranby is currently in the process of implementing its benchmark and expects to have fully achieved this in 2016.Nationally, we have recruited 2,340 new prison officers over the last year and this recruitment drive means we have 540 more full-time prison officers in our prisons than there were twelve months ago.All Prison Officers complete the national training course (POELT) before they are able to undertake full duties, all staff at Ranby have the same access and opportunity to avail themselves of relevant training and development as any staff member working within NOMS.

Ministry of Justice: Living Wage

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that employees in (a) his Department, (b) National Offender Management Service and (c) all relevant contractors are paid the living wage as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Mike Penning: In line with the Government’s commitment given in the budget, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will continue to ensure staff are paid at or above the National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour which will be introduced in April 2016. The MoJ’s third party suppliers are responsible for determining the pay of their employees and from April 2016 they will be legally obliged to conform to the National Living Wage.

Young Offenders: Housing

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost per day is of accommodation for a young person in a (a) young offender institution, (b) secure training centre and (c) secure children's home and (d) other facilities under the Youth Justice Board's ambit.

Andrew Selous: The Youth Justice Board calculates average cost per place per year for Secure Children’s Homes, Secure Training Centres and under-18 Young Offender Institutions and these costs are set out in Table 1.These figures are based upon the prices that the YJB pays for those services it commissions to deliver young people’s secure custodial facilities. The prices used are as at 1 April 2015.These costs are not intended to represent the total price of providing custody and related services to young people and specific exclusions are given in the notes below.Table 1: Average price per place per year of secure Children’s Homes, Secure Training Centres and Under-18 Young Offender InstitutionsSectorAverage price per place per year (to the nearest £'000)Secure Children's Homes (SCHs)£204,000Secure Training Centres (STCs)£163,000Under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs)£75,000Overall Average£104,000By way of comparison, five years ago in 2010, the average price per place was:SectorAverage price per place per year (to the nearest £'000)Secure Children's Homes (SCHs)£219,000Secure Training Centres (STCs)£163,000Under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs)£59,000 Notes:These prices do not include YJBfunding to NOMSPrisoner Escort Management (PEM)for the provision of Prison Escort and Custodial Services (PECS)for young people.These prices do not include YJB funding for Serco Escorts, who undertake movements for sentenced young people between courts and STCs and SCHs and for transfers between these sectors.Since 1 April 2011, the YJB has not been responsible for commissioning or funding young people’s Substance Misuse Services (SMS). The YJB does, however, still pay a SMS contribution for young people’s places at HMP&YOI Parc.Ministry of Justice (MoJ) funding for education and education support services in young people’s public sector YOIs is included.Business rates are included for Secure Training Centres (STCs) (business rates are charged on non-domestic property).These prices do not include VAT where it would be applicable (STC and private young offender institution (YOI) places).Advocacy Services funded by the YJB are included in STC and YOI prices, based upon a full year’s budget allocation at 1 April prices. Advocacy services required to be provided by Local Authorities for secure children’s homes (SCHs) are part-funded through YJB contracts for these places. The advocacy service is an independent service that supports young people within the secure estate.

Courts: Repairs and Maintenance

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost of enabling works required at receiving courts for them to take on additional work arising from planned court closures under his Department's proposals on the provision of courts services in England and Wales.

Mr Shailesh Vara: An assessment of the cost of enabling works is being made and will be included in the impact assessment published with the response to the consultation.

Courts and Tribunals

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the responses to HM Courts and Tribunals Service's proposal on the provision of Courts and Tribunal Estate in England and Wales will be published.

Mr Shailesh Vara: All responses submitted to the consultation are being considered. I will announce the outcome of the consultation in due course.

Youth Custody: Staff

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff employed in each (a) young offender institution and (b) secure training centre are (i) qualified social workers and (ii) registered with the Mental Health and Care Professions Council.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff employed in each young offender institution, secure training centre and secure children's home (a) are qualified speech and language therapists and (b) are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Andrew Selous: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

Medway Secure Training Centre

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people are currently held at Medway Secure Training College.

Andrew Selous: The current population of Medway Secure Training Centre is 48.

Medway Secure Training Centre

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many beds are (a) funded for and (b) provided by the Youth Justice Board at Medway Secure Training College.

Andrew Selous: The Youth Justice Board funds all 76 beds at Medway Secure Training Centre. The beds are provided by the contractor, G4S.

Medway Secure Training Centre: G4S

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of whether G4S is currently in breach of its contract for services at Medway Secure Training College.

Andrew Selous: An investigation into the allegations reported at Medway Secure Training College is underway by Kent Police and Local Authority.We are currently considering how to proceed including looking at whether the contract was breached. Decisions will be announced in the normal way.

Medway Secure Training Centre

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recruitment campaigns and job vacancies there are at Medway Secure Training College.

Andrew Selous: The centre currently has sufficient staff to meet required staffing levels. Recruitment campaigns are run at regular intervals in order to maintain the required staffing levels

Prisoners' Release

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were wrongly released in each of the last five years; what crime each such prisoner had been convicted of; from which prison each such prisoner has been released; how many such prisoners were released from (a) public and (b) private prisons; what category of prisoner each person wrongly released was; how long it took to return each such prisoner to prison; what further crimes each such prisoner committed while wrongly released; how many such prisoners remained at large in each of the last five years; what crime each at large prisoner was originally convicted of; from which prison each at large prisoner was wrongly released from; whether this was a (i) private and (ii) public prison; and what category of prisoner each at large wrongly released prisoner was.

Andrew Selous: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence

Navy: Females

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many women were recruited to the Royal Navy in each of the last three years.

Penny Mordaunt: The table below shows the number of women recruited to the Royal Naval Service (separated into Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marines Band Service (RMBS)) for each twelve month period, ending 30 November 2015.RNRMBSTOTAL1 Dec 2012 – 30 Nov 2013210102201 Dec 2013 – 30 Nov 2014290103001 Dec 2014 – 30 Nov 201528010290Figures are rounded, in accordance with Defence Statistics policy.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to provide cold weather clothing and equipment to progressive anti-Daesh forces.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK is providing a wide-range of humanitarian support to civilians inside Syria including food, clean water, medical support and relief packages. In Iraq, the UK is working with other Coalition members to help meet the needs of the Iraqi (including Kurdish) security forces. There are no plans to provide cold weather clothing and equipment to armed forces fighting Daesh in Syria or Iraq.

Russia: Military Aircraft

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times unsanctioned Russian military aircraft have been detected entering UK airspace in the last 12 months.

Penny Mordaunt: In the last 12 months there have been no unauthorised incursions by any foreign military aircraft into sovereign UK air space, which projects 12 miles off shore or to mutually agreed mid-points between adjacent nations over narrow straits such as the Straits of Dover. Russian military aircraft activity has remained in international airspace at all times. The UK civil air traffic region and the NATO Air Policing Area, for which the UK have responsibility for monitoring, include large areas of international air space through which foreign military traffic may legally transit.

Defence

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Caroline principles are applied to any further targeted killing carried out in self-defence of the UK.

Penny Mordaunt: In taking any action in self-defence of the UK, we will take account of well-established principles of self-defence. As the Attorney General pointed out to the Justice Select Committee on 15 September 2015, the Caroline case goes back to the 19th century and was concerned with very different circumstances to those facing us now. However as the Attorney General also made clear, the principles still apply and action in self-defence may be lawful in relation to an attack which has not yet materialised but is imminent. In addition any such action must, like all other action in self-defence, comply with the requirements of necessity and proportionality.

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentre Plus: North West

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches are employed by job centres in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claimants considered by his Department to have a limited capability to work live in Burnley.

Priti Patel: Responsibility CentreNumber of WC’sJCNW Burnley JC Plus19Lancashire235JCNW North West England1436The information available for the number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants by phase of claim and geography is published and can be found at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.aspGuidance for users is available at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Income Support: Burnley

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Burnley receive income support.

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Burnley receive income-based jobseeker's allowance.

Priti Patel: The information requested regarding income support is published and available at:http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.htmlGuidance on how to extract the information can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidanceStatistics on the claimant count, which shows the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants, can be found at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.aspGuidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

Jobcentre Plus: Training

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training jobcentre work coaches receive.

Priti Patel: All Jobcentre Work Coaches complete learning that has been designed specifically for their role. This learning combines the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to coach claimants effectively so that they are able to identify for themselves what they need to do to find work and how best to do it.It includes diversity and equality, working with vulnerable claimants and working with claimants who have a mental health condition.

Universal Credit

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provision there is for ICT training for recipients of universal credit.

Priti Patel: People without digital skills will be offered support to make and manage their Universal Credit (UC) claim online, to acquire and to improve their digital skills. This help will be provided by work coaches in Jobcentres and by Local Authorities and other partner organisations via the ‘Universal Support delivered locally’ programme.

Jobcentre Plus: Wallasey

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of Jobcentre Plus operating a smaller client facing office within Liscard Town Centre.

Priti Patel: The Department for Work and Pensions explored the option of a smaller client facing office as part of the business case.

Jobcentre Plus: Wallasey

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff who work at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus in Liscard live within two miles of that office; and how many of those staff will be (a) made redundant and (b) transferred as a result of the closure of that office.

Priti Patel: Staff currently based at Wallasey Jobcentre Plus live in various locations throughout Merseyside. Travel considerations form an integral part of the One-to-One discussion process with all staff.No staff will be made redundant as a result of the proposed relocation of services to Birkenhead if Wallasey Jobcentre Plus were to be closed.There are 116 staff based at Dominick House, all of whom will be transferred to either Brunswick House or other locations depending on personal circumstances – should the closure go ahead.

Department for Work and Pensions: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Priti Patel: The Department does not currently hold a record of sites that have defibrillators. The Department’s current policy is not to install defibrillators on its sites unless approached by an Ambulance Trust or other external organisations who want to do so. We are, however, currently reviewing this policy to ensure it reflects up to date advice from our Occupational Health Advisers.

Health and Work Innovation Fund

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what projects his Department plans to fund through the £40 million allocated to the Health and Work Innovation Fund.

Priti Patel: The Work and Health innovation fund will be used to build an evidence base for what works to improve employment and health outcomes.This evidence base will enable the Work and Health Unit to develop proposals for Longer Term reform across Work and health Systems The Unit is currently working with partners including NHS England to develop these proposals.

Work and Health Programme: Disability

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what specialist support will be available for disabled people under the new Work and Health Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: The Department is currently developing the design of the new Work and Health programme, and this includes consideration of what support disabled claimants might need to move into work, including specialist support, and how that support might best be delivered within the new programme.The Department will publish the details of this within the specification for the new programme later this year.

Jobcentre Plus: Wallasey

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to reimburse claimants who use the Wallasey Jobcentre Plus in Liscard for the additional cost of travel to an alternative site when that office closes.

Priti Patel: Assessment is made on the impact to claimants of any relocation of DWP business. Should the closure go ahead, the move would be 2 miles and approx. 20 minutes travel by public transport,to Birkenhead Jobcentre Plus. Depending on the claimant’s circumstances, reimbursement of additional costs would be considered if claimants were expected to attend an appointment at the Jobcentre that does not fall on their official signing day.

Children: Maintenance

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 136 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts, if he will publish a breakdown of the full cost figure for the application and collection fees from the 2012 Child Maintenance statutory scheme in 2014-15.

Priti Patel: The full cost of the 2012 statutory maintenance scheme for the financial year 2014/15 is shown on Page 136 of the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts as £49.432m which comprises:£46.1m of staff costs on all aspects of the 2012 scheme.£3.332m of goods and service expenditure.

Children: Maintenance

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) six month notices, (b) three month closure notices and (c) final closure notices of case closure have been sent to Child Support Agency cases in (i) segment 1, (ii) segment 2, (iii) segment 3 and (iv) segment 4.

Priti Patel: The table below shows the total number of (a) six month notice letters of case closure, (b) one month reminder letters of case closure, and (c) final letters issued for segments 1, 2, 3 and 4, as at the end of December 2015:Segment1234Six month notice 395,500137,90043,200238,900One month reminder letter365,400104,60030,10069,800Final letter373,00098,90010,40033,400NotesFigures rounded to nearest 100.The figures are made up from cases proactively selected for case closure, and not those where an application has been made to the 2012 scheme and a related case exists on the 93/03 scheme which is then reactively closed down.Cases selected for closure are sent a six month notice of case closure. One letter is sent to the parent with care and one to non-resident parent. They are then sent a reminder letter one month before their case closure date (no letter is sent at three months). They are sent a final letter when their case is closed.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has met with representatives of the Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss feedback they have received from universal credit claimants.

Priti Patel: Senior officials regularly meet with representatives from Citizens Advice to discuss Universal Credit on behalf of the Secretary of State.Citizens Advice staff are also actively engaged with the Universal Credit programme to feed their claimant insight into work on Universal Credit claimant orientation.

Universal Credit: Internet

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is provided to universal credit claimants who do not have (a) online access or (b) the capability to apply online.

Priti Patel: For those Universal Credit claimants who do not have online access, computers and free Wi-Fi are available through DWP and their delivery partners. Where claimants have limited, or no, capability to apply on-line, ‘assisted digital’ support is available alongside telephone and face to face support.

Personal Independence Payment: Eligibility

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the five options set out in pages nine to 12 of his Department's Consultation on aids and appliances and the daily living component of Personal Independence Payments, Cm 9171, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will lose entitlement to personal independence payment under each of the five options in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18 and (d) 2018-19; and what estimate he has made of how much his Department will not pay in benefit payments under each option in each such year.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department is currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.No decision has been made as to whether there should be any changes to the current system. If changes were to be made, the Department does not have any preference between the 5 options presented in the consultation and welcomes additional suggestions. Furthermore, these options are not mutually exclusive and could be combined, in whole or in part.If the Department were to decide to change the current system, in line with the Department’s obligations under the Equality Act 2010, a full Equality Analysis would be conducted and considered prior to a final decision being made.

Universal Credit: Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a universal credit applicant who does not receive the housing part in their first payment due to lack of evidence provided in their application will receive a backdated payment upon receipt of the correct document.

Priti Patel: Once all the relevant information is received, a backdated payment of the housing element can be made.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

White Fish: Devon

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effects of the ban on fishing for bass on the North Devon fishing industry.

George Eustice: The overall estimated reductions of the EU bass measures for the main gear groups in the commercial sector are set out in the following table; at this stage calculated for the UK fleet. This is an estimate which takes into account the effects of the initial 6 month moratorium, related derogations, and the subsequent monthly vessel catch limits.Those parts of the industry that use hook and line and fixed gillnets will benefit from derogations in the form of higher monthly catch limits and a moratorium of 2 rather than 6 months.More in depth analysis also taking into account additional factors such as the effects of last year’s increase of the minimum conservation reference size for bass and reduced availability of bass will be undertaken.  Gear typePrevious average tonnage 2011-13Estimated tonnage catch potential in 2016Estimated % reduction from 2011-13 averageBottom Trawl1313772%Nets37822441%Hook and line1711672%Purse seine562163%pelagic trawl771186%Totals81346043%

Air Pollution

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities received funding from her Department's air quality grant scheme in each year of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart: Defra’s Air Quality Grant Funding Scheme apportions funds on a Financial Year basis. The list covers records of local authorities awarded funding in each of the years between 2006/7 and 2014/15 (9 years). The list excludes 2015/16 because a formal announcement of the winners is yet to be made. It is important to note that records only go back to 2006/7 as that was the first year of a grant-based scheme. Prior to that, similar schemes such as Supplementary Credit Approvals and Supported Capital Expenditure were in place when Local Air Quality Management LAQM (LAQM) started in 1997. Those schemes served a similar function to today’s grant, namely to support local authorities’ statutory duties as prescribed under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. The information will be placed in the library.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many defibrillators are provided in each building her Department manages.

George Eustice: The Department currently manages a combined estate with the Environment Agency. Across a total of 163 occupied buildings, there are currently 47 with Automated External Defibrillators (AED) installed. Some buildings have more than one AED providing a total of 54 AEDs currently available across the combined estate. 23 further buildings are due to have an AED installed shortly.

Floods: Health Hazards

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that flood maps clearly show landfill sites to aid in the assessment of risk to public health in the event of flooding.

Rory Stewart: The Environment Agency holds data on both flood risk and landfill sites which are available free of charge for non-commercial use.The Environment Agency data on flood risk and landfill sites is available on gov.uk. Further developments are planned to allow the clear presentation of combinations of different maps.

Floods: Health Hazards

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will take steps to educate local flood resilience groups on the dangers of toxins in flood water.

Rory Stewart: Public Health England publishes guidance on health issues that responders might encounter during flood recovery. We understand that many flood action groups already ensure that anyone dealing with floodwater is aware of potential contaminants. Advice is also available on many local authority websites.

Floods: Health Hazards

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will review the National Adaption Plan in order to reflect the risk to public health from toxins in flood water.

Rory Stewart: Due to dilution and the lack of high-risk enteric infectious diseases endemic in the UK, the relative risks from contaminated floodwater are low, especially if public health advice is followed. Public Health England carries out active surveillance for outbreaks of infectious diseases, and other illnesses.The first National Adaptation Programme report identifies the actions needed to prepare for the impacts of climate change, including the threats of extreme weather and flooding, and addresses the risks identified in the first UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) published in January 2012. Work is under way on preparing the second CCRA which will underpin the second National Adaptation Programme report due around 2018.

Floods: Health Hazards

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will work with insurers to ensure an accurate risk assessment is carried out on the threat to public health posed by toxins in flood water.

Rory Stewart: The ABI were closely involved in developing a code of practice for flood damaged buildings. This covers the repair of flood damaged buildings and sets standards for ensuring this kind of work is carried out safely and effectively including avoiding any increased risk to public health.

Land Drainage

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of (a) the potential economic merits of water attenuation and retention by sustainable drainage systems and (b) the capital and maintenance costs of sustainable drainage systems.

Rory Stewart: The previous coalition Government prepared an impact assessment for sustainable drainage policy, evaluated as fit for purpose by the Regulatory Policy Committee in February 2014. The impact assessment was informed by research available on Defra’s Science and Research Projects website.

Flood Control

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to increase tree-planting as a method of flood prevention.

Rory Stewart: In some places trees can slow the flow of water down stream and reduce the local impacts of floods. That is why flood risk management is one of the targeting criteria for woodland creation funded through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Forestry Commission also continues to undertake research into understanding what role woodlands can play in managing flood risk.

Birds: Census

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21765, on birds: census, when she plans to publish her Department's internal allocations.

Rory Stewart: Defra’s Business Planning process is still underway. At this time it would not be appropriate to comment on how this translates into internal allocations for both the core Department and its Network Bodies.

Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade: Hanoi

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Ministers and staff of her Department will be attending the Hanoi Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in November 2016; and what the projected cost of that attendance will be in (a) staff salaries, (b) travel and (c) other costs.

Rory Stewart: The UK remains committed to its global leadership role in helping to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. During his visit to Vietnam in July 2015, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would provide £200,000 to support Vietnam in hosting a third high level international conference on the illegal wildlife trade. The Conference, to be held on 24-25 November 2016, will build on the successful London and Kasane Conferences of 2014 and 2015. Decisions about who will represent the UK at the Vietnam Conference have not yet been made.

Flood Control

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her policy to make funding available for woodland planting to help with water retention during times of flooding.

Rory Stewart: Flood risk management is one of the targeting criteria for woodland creation funded through the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Forestry Commission also continues to undertake research into understanding what role woodlands can play in managing flood risk. Defra and the Environment Agency will continue to support investigations into the potential benefits of land management change on flood risk - including tree planting.

Farms: Floods

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what government funding is available to pay farmers to allow parts of their land to flood to avoid flooding elsewhere.

Rory Stewart: If land is flooded as part of a deliberate and managed scheme to avoid flooding elsewhere the authority responsible would need to buy a right to flood or make a similar binding agreement with the landowner. The prices paid for that agreement would be subject to negotiation between the authority and the landowner and take into consideration such matters as any loss of value caused by flooding and debris in fields

Department for Communities and Local Government

Retail Trade: Urban Areas

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote local high street retail businesses.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government recognises that retail businesses are a vital part of high streets and is committed to supporting and promoting them. We introduced £1.4 billion of support for business rate bills in 2015 – 16 in England. The Autumn Statement 2015 also announced continuation of the doubling of Small Business Rate Relief in 2016 - 17, providing help for 600,000 rate payers, with 400,000 paying nothing at all. We are also committed to reviewing the future structure of Business Rates, to report before Budget 2016.We are also bringing forward sensible planning changes to allow business to respond flexibly to changing market conditions and are taking action to tackle over-zealous parking practices. We have reviewed the role and power of Business Improvement Districts, and are taking forward changes that will mean that they can become more involved in local decisions that affect their area.We have also run the Great British High Street Awards since 2014, which has championed the hard work of local businesses and communities around the country. With nearly 200,000 votes cast in the public voting element in the 2015 Awards, the competition proves how much local people cherish our high streets. We will continue to showcase best practice from the Awards.The Future High Street Forum is a joint partnership between government and the retail, leisure and property industries. It is leading an ambitious programme of work, including looking at town centre restructuring and the digital high street, to support town centres to meet the changing needs of today’s consumer.

Housing Estates

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government's press release of 10 January 2016, entitled Prime Minister pledges to transform sink estates, what steps his Department plans to take to support people on such estates whose homes will be removed.

Brandon Lewis: The aim of estate regeneration is to build more and better homes, available for both rent and ownership, with a clear package of protections for residents. Existing tenants have a right to return and will be re-housed on redeveloped estates, if they want to return there, in safer, high-quality accommodation that meets their needs and is provided on the same terms. Existing homeowners are already compensated, but many current schemes go further and offer new homes on site, with deals such as shared ownership to spread the cost. My noble Friend, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine’s estate regeneration Advisory Panel will be exploring these options and advising on the best way forward for the new programme.

Housing: Construction

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many houses he expects to be built in the UK in 2016.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not publish forecasts of house building.

Local Government: Contracts

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the national living wage and the apprenticeships levy on (a) contracted-out services provided to local authorities and (b) the revenue of those local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: The impact of the introduction of the national living wage and apprenticeships levy was considered during the Spending Review as part of the overall assessment of spending pressures on local authorities. However, no assessment has been made on contracted out services or revenue generation as that is for individual local authorities to consider as part of their budget setting process.

Communities and Local Government: Research

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what research his Department has commissioned on the (a) age profile of rural counties and (b) ability of older residents to generate business rates.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Office for National Statistics publish population estimates and population projections at the local authority level, broken down by age. We are not aware of any evidence to suggest a correlation between levels of business rates income and the age profile of residents.

Housing

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the overall effect of changes to housing legislation and housing-related benefits which have come into force since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Government interventions are reinvigorating the housing market. The number of new homes delivered last year was up by 25 per cent on the previous year, the highest year on year rise for 28 years. Completions are up and housing starts at their highest annual level since 2007, with more than 277,000 affordable homes delivered since April 2010 .We have announced a doubling of the housing budget to more than £20 billion over the next five years to support the largest housing programme by any Government since the 1970’sBetween 2000/01 and 2012/13, the Housing Benefit bill more than doubled to £24 billion and the cost to the taxpayer increased 50%.

Foster Care: Council Tax

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which local authorities offer a council tax (a) exemption and (b) discount to foster carers within their area.

Mr Marcus Jones: There is no specific council tax discount or exemption for foster carers. However, councils have powers to introduce discretionary discounts. We are aware of two authorities, in Camden and Waltham Forest, who are using those powers to offer discounts in their areas.

Housing Associations

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes in the level of services provided by housing associations to tenants since 2013.

Brandon Lewis: As independent providers of social housing, it is for housing associations to decide on the level of services they wish to provide to their tenants.Housing associations are regulated by the Social Housing Regulator against its standards framework; where there are issues of non-compliance with the regulatory standards the Regulator has powers to intervene.

Housing Associations: Disability

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many disabled housing association residents moved out of their property in each year since 2009-10.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many disabled social housing residents have moved out of their property in each year since 2009-10.

Brandon Lewis: The number of disabled social housing tenants (including housing association tenants) who have moved out of their property in each year since 2005-6 is shown in the attached table.These figures show that the number of social tenants who have moved has fluctuated over time, but the proportion of social renters who have moved has remained relatively constant.The reasons for these moves are not known although we expect some disabled social tenants will have moved to better (e.g. adapted) accommodation. Some will have moved from a different tenure i.e.from owner occupation or the private rented sector), while others will have moved from another social housing property.



Table
(Word Document, 14.48 KB)

English Language: Education

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Prime Minister's announcement of 18 January 2016, Passive tolerance of separate communities must end, how the £20 million fund for English teaching for isolated women will be spent.

Mr Marcus Jones: Our new £20 million community-based English language training offer will be informed by the findings of Louise Casey's Review into boosting opportunity and integration amongst isolated groups and the learning from the six community projects we have funded as part of our current integration programme. In particular, we will work with Louise Casey to identify the most isolated communities in England to make sure this programme is targeted at those women who need it most.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Religious Freedom

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has allocated to promoting freedom of worship in 2015-16; and how much her Department has spent on assisting religious minorities against persecution in developing countries in each of the last three years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK’s development and humanitarian aid is not targeted at specific groups but at the poorest, regardless of race, religion, creed, or nationality. The UK attaches great importance to ensuring that people of all faiths can participate fully in society and live without fear of abuse or discrimination.DFID works closely with the FCO to raise concerns on freedom of religion with partner governments.DFID does not collect specific data on allocation of funds for promoting freedom of worship.

Developing Countries: Education

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effects of its spending on the education of disabled children in developing countries in the last 10 years.

Mr Nick Hurd: We made a number of education commitments in our Disability Framework including a commitment to help to strengthen global and national data systems to be able to better capture child functioning in education. An update of progress against the Disability Framework will be published in the coming weeks.

HM Treasury

Debts: Advisory Services

Teresa Pearce: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on public sector and charitable provision of consumer debt advice services.

Damian Hinds: The Money Advice Service (MAS) is responsible for the coordination of publicly funded free to client debt advice. MAS is financed by a levy on the financial services industry. MAS is currently consulting on its business plan; it has proposed levying for a constant budget for debt advice for 2016/17 providing around £45 million to its third sector partners for the provision of debt advice.More broadly the Government is currently reviewing how the public provision of free-to-client, impartial financial guidance, including consumer debt advice services, should be structured to give consumers the information they need to make financial decisions. The Public Financial Guidance consultation closed in December 2015 and the Government will report back by budget.

Pensions

Royston Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on analysis of responses to the pension transfers and early exit charges consultation, launched by his Department in July 2015; and when he plans to publish the response to the consultation.

Greg Hands: On Tuesday 19 January, the Chancellor announced his intention to legislate to place a duty on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to cap excessive early exit charges for those eligible to access the pension freedoms. This new duty will form part of the response to the government’s Pension Transfers and Early Exit Charges consultation, and will help people take full advantage of the pension freedoms. The government will be publishing its full response to this consultation shortly.

Energy: Taxation

Teresa Pearce: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on classification of capacity payments as an environmental levy.

Damian Hinds: The classification of transactions for National Account purposes is a decision for the independent Office for National Statistics.

Treasury: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Harriett Baldwin: HM Treasury manages 1 Horse Guard’s Road in which 6 defibrillators are located. On 29th September 2015, 1 Horse Guard’s Road received Automated External Defibrillator Accreditation by the London Ambulance Service.

Better Care Fund: Scotland

Steven Paterson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequentials are for Scotland of the additional £1.5 billion allocated to the Better Care Fund in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Greg Hands: The Spending Review made social care funds available for local government from April 2017, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019/20. This grant will be paid from the Department for Communities and Local Government to local authorities on condition that they add it to the Better Care Fund, where the money will support integration of health and social care.The Barnett Formula was applied to DCLG’s Spending Review settlement in the usual way.

Landfill Communities Fund

Charlotte Leslie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the financial effects of removing contributory third party funding from the Landfill Communities Fund.

Damian Hinds: A policy costing for the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 was published in Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015: policy costings. This document is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-documents

Import Duties

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the UK's contribution to the EU budget through customs duties related to each (a) product type and (b) country in 2014-15.

Damian Hinds: To identify how much of the UK's contribution to the EU budget through customs duties related to each (a) product type and (b) country in 2014-15 would incur disproportionate cost.

Landfill Communities Fund

Graham Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with waste operators on the effect of planned changes to the Landfill Communities Fund.

Damian Hinds: The government has received representations from a number of waste operators on this issue. We are taking views into consideration and our priority is to ensure that the LCF operates effectively and encourages money to be spent in the communities that need it.

Landfill Communities Fund

Graham Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on waste operators of planned changes to the Landfill Communities Fund.

Damian Hinds: The LCF is a tax credit scheme into which landfill operators contribute voluntarily. The impact of the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 is set out in Reform and value of the Landfill Communities Fund. This document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund

Money Laundering: EU Law

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how he plans to assess the effectiveness of the implementation in the UK of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive.

Harriett Baldwin: The EU’s fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (‘the Directive’) was formally adopted in June 2015, and Member States now have until June 2017 to transpose its requirements into national law. The Government plans to publish a consultation on transposition of the Directive by early spring which will run for a full 12 weeks. We will consult on areas where the Directive gives us options or discretion on how we transpose its provisions as well as areas where we can improve the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.Transposition of the Directive is just one element of the Government’s comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering regime. HM Treasury and Home Office are working closely on a forthcoming Action Plan to address the issues identified in the UK’s first National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, in order to increase the effectiveness of the AML/CFT regime. This work is overseen jointly by Home Office and Treasury Ministers.Scrutinising all aspects of the UK’s AML/CFT regime, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Mutual Evaluation of the United Kingdom will be the ultimate test of effectiveness and will take place in the course of 2017 and 2018. The FATF Mutual Evaluation will judge both the technical compliance and effectiveness of the UK’s AML/CFT regime. But the implementation of the Directive will be key to achieving a successful evaluation, as the Directive will enact the FATF standards into UK domestic law.By undertaking this work, we are further ensuring that our anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regime is robust and sufficiently responsive to emerging threats.

Small Businesses: Taxation

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the new electronic system of quarterly income tax reporting will allow small businesses to align their reporting with VAT returns.

Mr David Gauke: Making Tax Digital will simplify tax administration for small businesses. The Government believes VAT registered businesses should have the option to provide HMRC with one update to cover both VAT and their profits-based taxes. We will consult widely on the details of Making Tax Digital during 2016.

Capital Investment: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Government capital projects (a) have been carried out in the last and (b) are planned over the next five years in Greater Manchester; and what the (i) cost and (ii) location was and will be for each such project.

Greg Hands: The government has supported a wide range of capital projects in Manchester. This includes: £533m committed to Greater Manchester through the Local Growth Fund, which will support projects such as the new Ashton town centre interchange; a £900m gainshare agreement as part of the Devolution Deal, which will support projects such as the Trafford Metrolink extension; £199m as part of the city deal over ten years for local major transport schemes; £78m for the Factory theatre and arts venue at Spending Review 2015; and £235m for the Sir Henry Royce Institute for advanced materials research at the 2014 Autumn Statement. Greater Manchester will also benefit from the North of England Rail Infrastructure programme, which is worth over £1bn.

Landfill Communities Fund

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the likely change in the number of projects being funded through the Landfill Communities Fund if the Contributory Third Party element is removed.

Damian Hinds: The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) is a tax credit scheme into which landfill operators contribute voluntarily. Since its introduction in 1996, the LCF has contributed over £1.4bn to community projects in areas affected by a local landfill site. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the Government's tax revenues. We therefore have an ongoing responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer.Our reforms aim to encourage LCF money to get to communities more quickly and use the savings to address other significant issues like waste crime. The LCF will provide £39.3 million of additional funding in 2016-17 alone. We also hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118 million, will reach projects as soon as possible.The impact of the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 is set out in Reform and value of the Landfill Communities Fund. This document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund

Landfill Communities Fund

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish the results of its consultation into the Reform of the Landfill Communities Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: The government published a summary of responses to the consultation Reform of the Landfill Communities Fund alongside Autumn Statement 2015. This document can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479337/Summary_of_consultation_responses-as15-final.pdf

Public Sector: Borrowing

Chi Onwurah: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) all and (b) part of the funding for universal technology schools count as public sector borrowing for the purposes of calculating the national debt.

Greg Hands: The Department for Education provides capital funding to support the construction of new University Technical Colleges and allocates resource funding to support day to day running costs.This funding impacts on public sector borrowing and public sector net debt in the same way as other central government spending.

National Insurance Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how much has been lost to the National Insurance Fund from salary sacrifice schemes for occupational pensions in each of the last five years.

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) employees and (b) employers have taken advantage of savings to National Insurance contributions from salary sacrifice schemes for occupational pensions in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: Department for Work and Pensions has published estimates on salary sacrifice available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-pension-provision-survey-2013 Estimates are not available for the number of active members who take advantage of these schemes or the loss to the National Insurance Fund.

Holiday Accommodation: Tax Allowances

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to (a) make provision for non-EU furnished holiday let owners to benefit from the ability to offset finance costs, but not the additional reliefs that are available to EU furnished holiday let owners, or to extend the definition of a furnished holiday let to be include non-EU properties and enable access to all reliefs.

Mr David Gauke: No.

Taxis: Welfare Tax Credits

Mr Charles Walker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has conducted research on the total cost to the public purse of tax credits paid to private hire vehicle drivers in London in each of the last two financial years.

Mr David Gauke: No such research has been conducted.

Landfill Communities Fund

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number and value of projects funded by the Landfill Communities Fund in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: Information on projects funded by the Landfill Communities Fund is published by the regulator of the fund, ENTRUST. This information is available on their website at:http://www.entrust.org.uk/environmental-bodies/project-search/

Cabinet Office

Low Pay: North West

Julie Cooper: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many employees in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West are earning less than the national minimum wage rate which will apply from 1 April 2016.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Excel Table for Member - Earnings
(Excel SpreadSheet, 29.5 KB)




UKSA Letter to Member - Earnings
(PDF Document, 66 KB)

National Income

Callum McCaig: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of per capita GDP in each of the nations of the UK in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - GDP
(PDF Document, 73.7 KB)

Government Departments: Paper

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a reduction in the use of paper in departments.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electoral Register

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people removed from the electoral register since December 2015 are (a) men and (b) women.

John Penrose: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electoral Register

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people who voted in the 2015 General Election are not on the latest electoral register.

John Penrose: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Electoral Register: Costs

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost is of the transfer to Individual Electoral Registration; and what proportion of such costs have been borne by local government.

John Penrose: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office: Correspondence

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of ministerial letters have been signed on behalf of Ministers in their absence in the last 12 months.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Public Sector: Oldham

Jim McMahon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will commission an assessment of the potential economic impact on Oldham of the reduction in Oldham's public estate.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Clean Growth Ministerial Group

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the inter-ministerial group on clean growth has met since 7 May 2015.

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the terms of reference are for the inter-ministerial group on clean growth.

Mr Oliver Letwin: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster chairs an inter-ministerial group on Clean Growth, to consider issues relating to air quality and de-carbonisation where these have a cross-departmental aspect. The group meets as and when required, and members include ministers and officials from the relevant departments, including Defra, DECC, DfT and BIS. To protect the integrity of the policy making process, we do not comment on specific membership or the frequency and timing of meetings.

Department of Health

Cancer: Depressive Illnesses

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help people with cancer who are also suffering from depression.

Jane Ellison: The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July 2015, with the mental health issues often experienced by those with cancer highlighted. A cross-system cancer transformation board, chaired by the National Health Service National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, is being established to oversee the implementation of the taskforce recommendations.As part of our approach to support people living with and beyond cancer, we announced in September that, by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. These recovery packages, developed in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support, will be individually designed to help each person live well beyond cancer, including elements such as physical activity programmes, psychological support and practical advice about returning to work.

Stem Cells: Donors

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of mixed race stem cell donors; what discussions he has had with the Anthony Nolan Trust and others on diversifying stem cell registries; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Department’s delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the Anthony Nolan Trust, ensure that all patients regardless of ethnicity can gain maximum benefit from the United Kingdom’s registry of volunteer bone marrow donors and from its inventory of altruistically-donated cord blood.In March 2015 the Department gave £3 million of funding to NHSBT and the Anthony Nolan Trust to continue their work saving and improving lives through stem cell and cord blood donation. Part of this funding will support the collection of an additional 3,000 Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) adult donors.The provision of cord blood stem cells remains an important part of the overall strategy and this year will see a continued expansion of the cord blood bank with a target that 40% samples are collected from the BAME community.The Department continues to support the work of the National BAME Transplant Alliance that helps to coordinate the work of BAME organisations working to promote all forms of donation including bone marrow stem cells.The Department is currently working with Anthony Nolan and NHSBT to consider possible future funding in the light of the spending review and set against other spending priorities.

Neuromuscular Disorders: Norwich

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on the creation of a new role for a part-time neuromuscular psychologist at the Colman Centre in Norwich.

Jane Ellison: NHS England advises that the post of neuromuscular psychologist is a specialised service, for which NHS England is the responsible commissioner.We understand that Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust has yet to submit a business case to NHS England for the post.

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to deal with antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics.

Jane Ellison: The Department is leading the United Kingdom’s wide-ranging response to address the significant threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).In September 2013 Department of Health, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the devolved administrations published the UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2013 – 2018, which is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-5-year-antimicrobial-resistance-strategy-2013-to-2018The Strategy addresses AMR within a “one health” context, spanning people, animals, agriculture and the wider environment. The overall aims of the Strategy are to prevent the number of infections requiring antibiotics occurring in the first place, protect the antibiotics we currently have by using them responsibly, and promote the development of new antibiotics and diagnostics.Globally, the UK has been leading an international response to tackling AMR. In May 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted an ambitious World Health Organization Global Action Plan on AMR (WHO GAP) that the UK contributed towards developing. Furthermore, we are supporting a high level meeting on AMR at the United Nations General Assembly later this year, as was called for in the WHO GAP.We are also promoting the independent review led by Lord O’Neill exploring ways in which the development of new antibiotics can be stimulated internationally.

Arthritis

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on regional variations on the availability of treatment for arthritis.

Jane Ellison: No representations have been made to Ministers in the Department on regional variations in the availability of treatment for arthritis.

Generic Prescribing

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to substitute the prescribing of high volume branded medicine with generic equivalents.

George Freeman: Generic substitution has happened in secondary care for many years, but is not currently permitted in primary care. The Department consulted on introducing primary care generic substitution in 2010, but did not progress the proposals following concerns about the potential impact on patient safety.Most general practitioner practices and clinical commissioning groups, formerly primary care trusts, have been pursuing and supporting policies of increasing generic prescribing for 15 years or more. Generic prescribing rates are already relatively high in England at 84.1% in 2014, as reported in the Health and Social Care Information Centre report: Prescriptions dispensed in the community: England 2004-14.

Generic Prescribing

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential annual savings to the NHS through greater generic substitution compared to using their reference originator products; and what assessment he has made of the obstacles to implementing such a policy for (a) inhalers and biologics and (b) after complex products.

George Freeman: The Government has made no such assessments. England has one of the highest levels of generic prescribing in Europe. In 2014, the Health & Social Care Information Centre report Prescriptions Dispensed in the community: England 2004-14, shows that of all medicines dispensed in 2014, 84.1% were dispensed generically.Prescribers are ultimately responsible for their own prescribing decisions. We expect them to always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that patients are adequately monitored.

Generic Prescribing

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency about the requirement for some generic medicines to be given a brand name for clinical reasons; and what steps he is taking to ensure patients receive the brand name medicine specified.

George Freeman: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the Executive Agency of Department of Health with overall responsibility for medicines licensing.The responsibility for prescribing rests with the practitioner who has clinical responsibility for their patient's care and we would expect practitioners to take any relevant guidance into account when making their prescribing decisions.Prescribers utilise a wide range of information to inform their prescribing decisions including decision support systems and authoritative guidance such as that from the MHRA, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the British National Formulary.In primary care, if it is clinically appropriate for an individual patient to be maintained on a specific manufacturer’s product then the prescriber can specify this on the prescription for that product to be dispensed. Officials from the Department and MHRA liaise as required on the application of this policy.

Blood: Contamination

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission an inquiry into contaminated blood in England and Wales.

Jane Ellison: Given the thoroughness of Lord Penrose’s report, published in March 2015 and the fact that the report sets the events in Scotland in the wider UK context at that time, our view remains that there is no need for a further public inquiry in England. The report, together with over 5,000 documents from the period 1970-85 that have already been published by the Government, provides a comprehensive picture of events and decisions made. Another Inquiry would not be in the best interests of sufferers and their families as it would be costly and further delay action to address their concerns and significantly delay plans to reform existing payment support schemes.On 21 January 2016, the Government published a consultation seeking views on proposed reforms to the schemes supporting those infected with, or affected by, HIV and/or hepatitis C through NHS-supplied blood products. I would encourage all those with an interest to respond.

Generic Prescribing

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to include generic medicines which are required to have a brand name by the MHRA and are already subject to market competition alongside originator medicines in the Statutory Scheme of Control the Prices of Branded Health Service Medicines.

Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of removing generic medicines required to have a brand name by the MHRA from the Statutory Scheme of Control the Prices of Branded Health Service Medicines.

George Freeman: The Department consulted on options to amend the Statutory Scheme regulations which control the prices of branded health service medicines. Both the voluntary Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and the statutory scheme include all health service medicines with a brand name, including those required by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to have a brand name. The Department did not propose any changes to the scope of the statutory scheme in this respect and has not made an estimate of the cost of removing those branded medicines from the statutory scheme.The Department received responses from a range of organisations including National Health Service, independent bodies and pharmaceutical industry. The Department is currently analysing the responses from a range of organisations including NHS, independent bodies and pharmaceutical industry.The consultation and impact assessment can be accessed using the following link.https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pricing-of-branded-health-service-medicines

Cancer: Drugs

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ask NHS England to publish a case study of the revised Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) patient journey and give examples for how people are initiated onto CDF-approved treatments now and how people will be treated under the proposed new CDF scheme.

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions the his Department, NHS England and NICE have had on the effect of proposed Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) changes on patients prescribed current CDF treatments who will not receive interim funding under that proposed new scheme.

George Freeman: NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting jointly on draft proposals on the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation document states that all patients receiving treatment funded through the CDF on 31 March 2016 will continue to receive treatment until the point that they and their consultant agree that it is appropriate to stop.NHS England has advised that the aim of the future CDF is to help patients receive new treatments with genuine promise, while real world evidence is collected for up to two years on how well they work in practice. This will then help determine whether the treatment should be accepted for routine use in the National Health Service in the future. It is not possible to make comparisons between the current and future CDF until such time as the consultation has concluded and the responses reviewed.The consultation was published on 19 November 2015 and is open until 11 February 2016. Further information is available at:www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation

Hepatitis

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2015 to Question 10658, if he will ensure that the national improvement framework for hepatitis C services contain guidance on the alignment of screening programmes for hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis and other blood-borne viruses or associated conditions.

Jane Ellison: Recommendations on testing for hepatitis C are evidence-based, including whether it is appropriate to align with guidance on testing for other conditions. It should be noted that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has already published guidance on testing for hepatitis B and C. Screening programmes are considered and recommended by the United Kingdom National Screening Committee.

Department of Health: Advertising

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the amount it will spend on (a) television, (b) print, (c) online and (d) billing advertising in the next 12 months.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not hold an advertising budget.As such there is no expected spend on advertising over the next 12 months other than that for the advertisement of public appointments.

Cystic Fibrosis

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support people with cystic fibrosis.

Jane Ellison: Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for securing high quality care for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) as part of its specialised commissioning responsibilities. NHS England has published two CF service specifications, one for adults and one for children, recognising that, whilst similar, adults and children with CF do have differing needs and that it is important that the service provided should reflect this. The specifications are available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/01/a01-spec-cystic-fibrosis-adlt.pdfandhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/01/a01-spec-cystic-fibrosis-child.pdfThe specifications are important in clearly defining what NHS England expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. They ensure equity of access to a nationally consistent, high quality service for patients.Specialist centres are responsible for providing the care plan for all patients. This includes the responsibility for determining when high cost CF drugs should be prescribed. Care will be delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of trained, experienced, specialist healthcare professionals who routinely care for a critical mass of CF patients at a specialist centre.

Blood: Contamination

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19788, in how many cases liability has been established for people infected by contaminated blood.

Jane Ellison: In 2001 the National Blood Authority was liable for the infection of 117 patients with hepatitis C between March 1988 and September 1991 by whole blood transfusion. The litigation was brought under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 1987. The litigants were awarded quantum based damages.

Vaccination: Babies

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the effect of individual funding requests for palivizumab on premature babies at risk of severe complications from respiratory syncytial virus.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that it is monitoring the level of individual funding requests for patients who do not meet the criteria for palivizumab. NHS England aims to finalise an analysis of this data in April 2016 and will report its findings to the neonatal care clinical reference group.

Hepatitis

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2016 to Question 21111, if he will make an assessment of the effect of delays in the publication of the hepatitis C framework on (a) all people and (b) members of the South Asian population in England with hepatitis C.

Jane Ellison: There are no plans to make such an assessment.

Department of Health: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Jane Ellison: One defibrillator is provided in each of the buildings managed by the Department which includes Blenheim House in Leeds, Premier House in Reading and Skipton House, Richmond House and Wellington House in London.

Medical Treatments: Technology

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2016 to Question 20580, how long he expects the analysis phase of NHS England's Commissioning through Evaluation programme to last.

George Freeman: The analysis phase for treatments entered into the Commissioning through Evaluation programme varies in length depending on the follow up evaluation measures that have been agreed by clinicians and patients at the start of each scheme.

Medical Treatments: Technology

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2016 to Question 20580, if his Department will ask NHS England to allow patient access to technologies assessed through NHS England's Commissioning through Evaluation programme during the analysis phase on the same basis as during the first stage of the programme.

George Freeman: Whilst any patients already treated under a Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) scheme will continue to receive appropriate follow up care, no new patients will be funded by NHS England during the subsequent analysis phase.This ensures that, during the analysis phase, NHS England continues its current policy of not funding treatments which have insufficient evidence of clinical and / or cost effectiveness.In turn, this means that NHS England can direct public funds to evidence based care. It also allows CtE programme funding to be redirected to support patient recruitment in another area of specialised care where further evaluation data is needed.

Swine Flu: Vaccination

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doses of pandemic H1N1 vaccine were administered in the UK in the 2010-11 influenza season.

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS advised GPs to administer the pandemic influenza vaccine during the 2010-11 winter due to shortages of supply of seasonal influenza vaccine.

Jane Ellison: An estimated 172,260 doses of pandemic flu vaccine were administered from 1 September 2010 to 28 February 2011.The Department issued a letter from the Chief Medical Officer on 6 January 2011 about seasonal influenza vaccine uptake and supply. It noted that if efforts to source seasonal flu locally had not been successful, then the H1N1 monovalent vaccine Pandemrix could be offered to those eligible for seasonal flu vaccine.

Social Services

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of pension freedoms policy on the cost to local authorities of residential care.

Alistair Burt: The pension freedom reforms are a fundamental change to how people can access their pension savings. The Government believes it is important to monitor these changes to understand their effects on the market and consumers. The impact of people’s pension choice can affect the extent to which they have to contribute to their social care costs.The Department of Health, working with other Government Departments, assessed the potential effect of the policy on the cost to local authorities of residential care to be small compared to overall expenditure on residential care.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21142, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times.

Alistair Burt: Pursuant to my answer and as announced by the Prime Minister on 11 January, we are providing a further £247 million over the next five years to provide 24-hours, seven days a week liaison psychiatry services in accident and emergency (A&E) departments to support people who attend A&E, who may have mental ill health, to ensure they are assessed and receive the most appropriate treatment.We are making additional resources available to the National Health Service to deal with increased demand in A&E departments by backing the NHS Five Year Forward View with £10 billion a year real terms additional funding by 2020-21, compared to 2014-15, with £3.8 billion real terms growth in 2016-17.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Mental Illness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2016 to Question 21142, if he will make it his policy to make mandatory the recording of the diagnosis code in the accident and emergency data set.

Jane Ellison: Following a review of the Accident and Emergency Commissioning Data Set in 2014, a specific project was established to support the development of an improved data set for urgent and emergency care. This is a collaborative project which includes wide-ranging membership across our key partners. The mandatory recording of primary diagnosis within accident and emergency departments is expected to be considered within the scope of this project, which will report in due course.

Psychiatric Nurses

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 21586, if he will make it his policy to collect figures on the number of psychiatric nurses in each region.

Ben Gummer: The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) already make available workforce statistics for all Hospital and Community Health Services staff nationally and by Health Education England region in the annual National Health Service workforce census. This includes the number of nurses working in the area of community psychiatry and other psychiatry and these figures are available by region each month on request to the HSCIC.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning group local transformation plans are available online.

Alistair Burt: 123 local transformation plans (LTPs) have been produced covering 209 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). All LTPs were required to be published locally by 31 December 2015 and the CCGs have been asked to provide details of where they are published, as part of the continued assurance process. At least 74 of the 123 LTPs are available online and by mid-February a link will be available to all 123.

Social Services: Living Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the National Living Wage on the level of provision of adult social care in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18 and (c) 2018-19.

Alistair Burt: The new National Living Wage will ensure that lower paid care workers are better paid for the vital work they do.The National Living Wage does not directly impact on the level of provision of adult social care.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Young People

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that young people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are made aware of their possible suitability for lung transplants.

Jane Ellison: There are a number of lung diseases of childhood, including pulmonary fibrosis that may require lung transplantation, depending on disease progression and severity.These conditions should be referred to, assessed and initially managed by a tertiary paediatric respiratory unit, who would confirm the diagnosis and monitor treatment.If the treatments failed to hold the progression of the disease, then a referral to one of the two paediatric lung transplant centres, Newcastle and Great Ormond Street may be appropriate.

Breast Cancer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department will take to ensure that (a) NHS patients across England benefit equally from access to NICE-recommended molecular diagnostic testing for breast cancer and (b) changes to NICE recommendations do not include removing recommended molecular diagnostic tests for breast cancer for patients currently accessing such tests.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the recent Report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce, what steps his Department is taking to urge NHS England to prioritise a Best Practice Tariff for NICE-recommended molecular diagnostic services for guiding adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer management.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support the implementation of Recommendation 37 of the Report of the Independent Cancer Taskforce on nationally commissioning access to molecular diagnostic tests for breast cancer in 2016.

Jane Ellison: In July 2015, NHS England published a new Clinical Commissioning Policy: Genetic Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations. In accordance with the criteria set out in that document, NHS England will commission genetic testing for (breast cancer genes 1 and 2) BRCA1 and BRCA2 in those that have a pre-test BRCA1 and BRCA2 carrier probability risk of 10% or more as recommended in NICE clinical guideline (CG)164. The document is available at:www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/10/e01pb-brca-ovarian-cancer-oct15.pdfThe independent Cancer Taskforce recognised the need for more accessible molecular diagnostic provision in its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England is currently working with partners across the healthcare system to determine how best to take forward the Taskforce’s recommendations. A cross-system Cancer Transformation Board is being established to oversee implementation of the Taskforce recommendations, alongside an independent Advisory Group, chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK. Regional Genetic Laboratories are central to all NHS Genomic Medicine Centres (GMCs) and have been the focal point for adoption of genomic technologies into healthcare for over 40 years. These laboratories are currently the focus of an NHS England Specialised Commissioning intended procurement exercise. The procurement aims to create a new genomic laboratory infrastructure for the National Health Service in England based on centralised and local genomic laboratory hubs to support rare, inherited and acquired disease as well as the future personalised medicine requirements inclusive of molecular diagnostics in stratified medicine.In addition, in September 2015, the NHS England Board approved the development of a Personalised Medicine Strategy for the NHS by March 2016. The Strategy will build on the 100,000 Genomes Project, in which the NHS is a key delivery partner.The Project will sequence whole genomes from eligible patients with rare diseases and cancers.It is moving the NHS to a new model of diagnosis and treatment based on understanding of underlying genetic causes and drivers of disease and a comprehensive phenotypic characterisation of the disease (rather than deduction from symptoms and individual diagnostic tests).The high-level vision and strategy is to create a Personalised Medicine service embracing four overarching principles: the prediction and prevention of disease; more precise diagnoses; targeted and personalised interventions; and a more participatory role for patients. Personalised medicine informs the selection of the most appropriate treatment and better outcomes for individual patients – the right drug at the right time, earlier screening and treatment, smarter monitoring and the adjustment of treatments.

Nurses: Training

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 January 2016, Official Report, column 18, what the evidential basis is for the statement that changes to nurses' training will allow for training 10,000 more nurses over the course of the current Parliament.

Ben Gummer: As set out by the Chancellor in the Spending Review in November 2015, universities will be able to provide up to 10,000 additional training places by the end of this Parliament. This is for nursing, midwifery and allied health subjects.In 2014, 57,000 applicants applied for 20,033 nursing places on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system. Nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects are popular to study with British students, with nursing the fifth most popular subject on UCAS in 2014. Universities want to train more students for these professions and have the capacity to expand moderately quickly if allowed. There are already examples of universities, such as The University of Bolton and Keele University where these institutions have expanded to deliver additional places for nursing and physiotherapy respectively; with other universities also looking to expand.

NHS: Mutual Societies

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the report on the Mutuals in Health Pathfinder Programme.

Ben Gummer: In accordance with the Terms of Reference agreed at the start of the programme when he was Minister, the expert panel submitted the findings and recommendations of the Mutuals in Health Pathfinder Programme to the Government through an internal report.This is currently being considered by the Government.

Women and Equalities

Government Equalities Office: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many defibrillators are provided in each building the Government Equalities Office manages.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government Equalities Office (GEO) does not manage any buildings. The GEO shares premises with the Department for Education. We refer the Honourable Member for Brigg and Goole to the answer submitted by that department to PQ Number 22555.